In 2007, Saoirse Ronan made history when she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role in Atonement at only 13 years old. Since then, Ronan has continued to make a name for himself in the industry, starring in films like Lady Bird, little womenand more recently, Blitz. But, as one of her new interviews suggests, getting roles wasn’t as easy as it seemed at first.

In a new interview with SheRonan opened up about being pitted against another child star Dakota Fanning when she was growing up. “For a while, it was me and Dakota Fanning,” she said. “And I would love for Dakota and (I) to work together.”

It turns out that Fanning, who is the same age as Ronan and got her break in 2001 as Lucy in I am Samwas one of the reasons why Ronan wanted to become an actress. “That’s one of the reasons I started acting, because when I was really young, she was working from a very young age and I would watch her stuff,” Ronan admitted. “So to be like, ‘Oh, there’s room for all of us now,’ while there’s still healthy competition, I think it’s great.”

Indeed, knowing how Ronan and Fanning are two industry powerhouses, having them together on screen would make for quite a dynamic duo.

Before Ronan’s confession, Fanning spoke about the difficulties of be a child star in an interview with The cut in October.

“In interviews when I was young, I remember journalists asking me, ‘How do you avoid becoming a tabloid girl?’ “People would ask extremely inappropriate questions,” Fanning explained. “I was in an interview when I was a kid and someone asked me, ‘How can you have friends?’ It’s like, huh?

“I have a lot of compassion for the people who have become examples. If society and the media had not played their role, who knows? I don’t think it’s necessarily 100% to do with being in this profession; there are other factors as well,” she added, speaking of the people who helped keep her grounded. “I wasn’t working with people who treated me that way – I was respected as an actor and as equal as you can be at that age.”

Looks like Fanning and Ronan would have a lot in common if they worked together in the future. From healthy enemies to co-stars?

Before you leave, click here see famous co-stars who became best friends.