A short clip of Saoirse Ronan has gone viral, showing the Irish actor calling out a blind spot displayed by fellow actor Paul Mescal when the pair appeared as guests on The Graham Norton Show.
Mescal was one of three male guests on last Friday’s episode of the BBC show alongside Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington.
Redmayne was talking about his new series, The Day of the Jackal where he stars as an assassin. During the discussion, he described the training he had to do in preparation for the role, including learning self-defence from a combat expert who taught him how to use his mobile phone as a weapon.
Mescal, star of Normal People and the upcoming Gladiator II interjected, saying: “Who is actually going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go ‘phone,’” before pretending to reach for a phone in his pocket.
The clip shows Ronan trying to say something in response, but the men around her continued to laugh. The host went along with Mescal’s joke, playing out a scenario of him speaking to a hypothetical attacker and saying, “Can you hang on a second?” while tapping his pockets looking for a phone.
Mescal continued, pretending to hold a phone up to his ear and saying, “Sorry mum, one second. BANG,” as he reached into his pocket and pretended to attack someone in the throat with a phone.
“That’s a very good point,” Redmayne said.
But then Ronan was finally able to speak out, and what she said silenced the men (and put them in their place!)
“That’s what girls have to think about all the time,” she said. “Am I right ladies?” she added, as the audience murmured in agreement and applauded. Watch the clip yourself: you can see the men around Ronan slightly recoil with embarrassment.
Several social media users have praised Ronan’s response, with one comment saying: “The silence…..speaks for itself,” while another called the silence after she spoke as “genuinely a work of art.”
“Saoirse Ronan gagging men we love to see it.”
“I love Paul but there’s just something about men not understanding how difficult it is to exist safely as a woman,” one user wrote.
“Lads … you do know we walk at home at night with our house keys fused between our forefingers in case we need to fend off an attacker, right?” asked said.
A 2022 study by Plan International Australia found that one in five Australian women aged 18-24 feel less safe being alone at night in public spaces now than before the pandemic. An earlier study produced by the same organisation revealed the pervasive nature and extreme level of harassment experienced by women across the globe.
Ronan and Mescal starred in last year’s Garth Davis feature, Foe, which is based on a book by Canadian writer Iain Reid, and the pair are known to be friends.
Ronan has been nominated four times the Oscars, for her roles in Atonement (2007), Brooklyn (2015), Lady Bird (2017), and Little Women (2019).
On social media, one user pointed out: “It’s great to see actors using their platforms to challenge traditional notions of masculinity and uplift female voices. While they may not fully understand the female experience, their support can foster important conversations and create a more inclusive environment in the industry.”