Saoirse Ronan is taking her mother as her date to the Academy Awards

She told the Metro newspaper: "Technically this will be my second time doing it, really, because I didn't go to the parties when I was a kid.

"But actually last time [for 'Brooklyn'] I couldn't party either because I had to be up at 4am to catch a plane to New York.

"It was my first preview for 'The Crucible' that night and I'd never been on stage in front of an audience before, so that was mental!

"This time my mam is coming with me and she's very excited. She's like; 'We are gonna dance! We are gonna have fun!'

"We've got a whole chillout day in a spa planned for the day after. It will be great!

"We have an amazing relationship. Every now and then we go 'Oh God, we are really lucky, aren't we?'"

Saoirse also admitted she has always had a good sense of who she is because of her parents and compared it to her 'Lady Bird' alter-ego.

She said: "From an early age I was leading films and working with older people.

"But thanks to my parents, particularly my mam, I have always had quite a good sense of who I was.

"I think that is something 'Lady Bird' has. Even though my character hasn't figured out exactly what or who she wants to be, she knows who she is and I can identify with that."

The Irish actress also admitted she is reminded of "what is important" when she FaceTimes her family and puppy Fran.

She said: "Whenever I FaceTime mam, I'll go 'will you just turn the phone around so I can see Fran?'

"When I see Fran I think everything is well with the world. She reminds me what is important."