Paul Mescal Addresses Viral Saoirse Ronan Moment About Women’s Safety, Self-Defense

Paul Mescal praises Saoirse Ronan for her latest viral moment on The Graham Norton Show.

Under Ireland’s The Late Late Show Friday, November 15 Gladiator II star addressed the memorable October 25 performance, which saw his Enemy costar turns a self-defense joke made by Mescal and other male guests into a moment of perspective on violence against women.

When asked if he and fellow guests Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington were at all taken back by Ronan’s reaction, the actor used his response to endorse her point, which, as host Patrick Kielty put it, was an “important message about women and how they look after each other.”

“No, I don’t think we were surprised because like you said, you’re on a talk show like this and you’re kind of just talking,” explained Mescal, 28. “But I’m not surprised that the message got as much attention that it got because it’s hugely important.”

The Normal people The actor also singled out Ronan, 30. “I’m sure you’ve had Saoirse on the show,” he told Kielty. “And she’s quite often, if more often than not, the most intelligent person in the room.”

The Graham Norton Show The moment was no exception, according to Mescal, who said Ronan was “spot on” and “hit the nail on the head.”

“It’s also good that announcements like this are gaining traction,” he said. “It’s a conversation we absolutely should be having on a daily basis.”

The Little Women actress previously revealed that the response to her comments was definitely unexpected, at least on her part.

“It’s definitely not something I expected and I didn’t necessarily set out to make a splash,” she added The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK in October.

“But I think there’s something that really speaks to the society we’re in right now and how open women want to be with the men in their lives,” she added. “So many men and women that I know from all over the world have reached out to me about this one comment, which again is, I want to encourage people to please, please, please, please look at this in context.”

The Oscar-nominated actress also clarified that her fellow guests did not “disprove” anything she said, and that Mescal in particular “completely understands” the issue she raised, as they have spoken about it in person before.

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The viral moment came about in connection with Redmayne’s latest role as an assassin, through which he learned to use his phone as a weapon. As they considered the strategy, Mescal and host Graham Norton began to joke that they wouldn’t use their phone against an attacker.

“Who’s going to think about that anyway?” Mescal said, miming taking a phone out of his pocket. “If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to ‘phone.'”

After Redmayne and Norton both chimed in, Ronan interjected, saying, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.”

“Am I right, ladies?” she added, drawing loud applause from the audience – and later praise online from fans for the way she “gagged” the men.