Casting

In 2007 when Atonement was made Joe Wright and his crew, cast a remarkable group of actors. Kiera Knightly was cast as Cecilia, James McAvoy was cast as Robbie, Saoirse Ronan plays 13 year old Briony, Romola Garai was cast as 18 year old Briony, and Vanessa Redgrave as the oldest version of Briony, aged 77. The majority of this cast has a track record of memorable roles. Kiera Knightly has played roles from a soccer player in "Bend it Like Beckham" to chasing pirates in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" saga. She is an extremely talented actress who can make her viewers cry and smile at the same time, she was perfect for her role. Cecilia is an interesting character because she is torn between her family and her love. Kiera played the role so well, with every tear and struggle in her voice it brought Cecilia to a whole new level. The job of every actor is to play a part. However, the actors in this film went above and beyond to gain credibility of their work. For these young actors (Knightly, McAvoy, Ronan, Garia) the challenge was to get in the mindset of a young adult not only living through the war, but battling a war within themselves; they had to tell their characters stories and sell it to the audience. It was amazing to see the chemistry between McAvoy and Knightly onscreen, their performance really did give the couple from the novel justice to their relationship. Just like directer Joe Wright the actors also had to do their research on what it was like to be young during the war, and to actually be involved in the war. The three actresses that played Briony's character throughout the film had a different struggle. Each one had to learn how to play her at certain stages in her life. The character was always carrying around this guilt, but the actresses weren't. They helped define Briony's character because all three managed to transition so well and carry on from where the last one left off in their role.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-cIF0WCD2I&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viY5tffO9Q8