And, ultimately, Mark—who shares kids Ella, 21, Michael, 18, Brendan, 16, and Grace, 14, with wife Rhea Durham—brought real life experience to the role of Saoirse’s character Susie’s father that Ryan didn’t have at the time. (The La La Land star is now dad to daughters Esmeralda Amada, 10, and Amada Lee, 8, with longtime partner Eva Mendes.)
“It meant then that Mark was able to step in, and he was a father,” Saoirse explained. “He was a father to three kids [at the time], and he probably had an experience with that that Ryan felt like he didn’t.
She added, “Ryan was like 27. He was young.”
