Saoirse Ronan calls reaction to viral 'Graham Norton' clip 'wild'

Saoirse Ronan said she was surprised by the reaction to her viral comment about violence against women The Graham Norton Showbut I'm glad it seemed like it was “opening up a conversation again.”

In a new interview on Ryan Tubridy Show Speaking on Virgin Radio UK, Ronan described the reaction as “wild”, adding: “It's definitely not something I expected and I wasn't necessarily planning on causing a stir.”

The moment occurred in a recent episode of Nortonwhere Ronan sat alongside Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne. Redmayne had spoken about how he learned to use a phone to fend off an attacker while filming his new series. The Day of the Jackalwhich led to a series of incredulous jokes from the mostly male panelists.

“But who will actually think about it?” Mescal once said. “If someone attacks me, I won't say 'phone'.”

Ronan then silenced everyone by remarking, “Girls have to think about that all the time.”

Reflecting on why the comment spread so quickly, Ronan said: “I think there's something really telling about the society we're in right now and how open women want to be with the men in their lives . “So many men and women I know from all over the world have contacted me about this one comment.”

Ronan encouraged people to watch not just the greatly abbreviated clapback, but the entire interview (or “at least that part of the conversation”), because it wasn't just about engaging with the other guests. “The guys didn't want to expose anything I said at all,” Ronan said, noting that she and Mescal – her boyfriend and co-star in the 2023 film Enemy – had spoken about this topic before.

“He completely understands and understands it completely,” she said. “But I think the fact that there was a moment like that on a show like this Graham Nortonit seems to have had an accessibility that seems to have really gained traction, which I find amazing.”

Ronan said she hoped the clip would encourage “more and more women” to speak openly about their experiences, pointing out that she had already seen some evidence of this. The actress said she spoke to someone who worked on her new film. flashwho told her this while talking about it Norton In a clip featuring some friends and her husband, all the women mentioned the “fake call” – a safety measure when going alone.

“And her husband said, ‘What wrong call? What do you mean?'” Ronan said. “And of course you wouldn't understand it if you didn't have to go through something like that. But somehow, throughout her life as a woman, she has acquired these tools without ever talking about it with other women and understanding that it is a kind of survival tactic. And we’ve all subconsciously found the same tools and use them over and over again, and I find that really interesting.”