Saoirse already had a host of credits to her name by the time she was cast in Joe Wright's 2007 film adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, but it was this film that really launched her incredible career. She played 13-year-old Briony Tallis, who misunderstands what she sees on a Summer night in 1935, setting off a dramatic chain of events. The older versions of the character were played by Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave.