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Saoirse Ronan reacts to 'wild' viral 'Graham Norton Show' clip

It's the viral moment about women's safety that's dominating social media feeds this week, but Saoirse Ronan says she had no intention of sparking the online discussion.

The Irish actress shared The Graham Norton Show On Friday, Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington met on the sofa and the conversation turned to self-defense skills.

Redmayne revealed how he was taught to use a phone as a weapon while filming The Day of the Jackalwhich leads Mescal to make a joke about putting his mother on hold while she deals with an attacker.

“Who’s actually going to think about that?” he joked. Ronan, who smiled knowingly throughout the conversation, replied, “That's what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?”

The moment drew huge applause from the studio audience, was viewed millions of times online and inspired newspaper columns. Ronan said she was pleasantly surprised by the reaction.

In an interview with Virgin Radio UK she said: “The reaction has been wild. This is definitely not what I expected and I wasn’t necessarily planning on causing a stir.”

Ronan continued: “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 around the world have contacted me about this one comment, and I want to ask people again: Please, please, please look at this in context.”

“The boys didn’t want to expose anything I said at all. But at the same time, it felt very similar to being at dinner with some of my friends, and I will always emphasize that that is actually an experience that we have every day.”

Ronan added that she had discussed the issues with “dear friend” Mescal in the past: “He fully understands and completely understands it, but I think the fact that there was a moment like that on a show like Graham Norton, is that.” Something that channels the entire nation and is watchable, and even abroad, it's something that people are getting into, it seems to have had an accessibility that seems to have really gained traction .”

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