Saoirse Ronan goes viral for her reaction to a joke about self-defense

Saoirse Ronan tells it like it is.

On Friday, October 25, the 30-year-old actress appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington, where she gave her perspective on violence against women after a joke about self-defense was made.

On the talk show, Redmayne, 42, spoke about the physical training he underwent for his role in the upcoming miniseries The Day of the Jackalin which he plays an assassin.

After saying he had been taught how to use his phone as a weapon if someone attacked him, Mescal, 28, and host Graham Norton began joking and said they wouldn't think of using their phone as such use if they were in danger.

“Who's actually going to think about this?” Mescal said, mimicking pulling a phone out of his pants pocket. “If someone actually attacks me, I won't 'make a phone call.' ”

Norton, 61, then pointed at an imaginary attacker and said: “Can you wait a minute?” while pretending to remove his phone from his.

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“That's a very good point,” Redmayne added, before Ronan chimed in and explained: “It's something girls have to think about all the time.”

The Little women Star then pointed to the audience and asked, “Am I right, ladies?”, which drew loud applause.

Representatives for Mescal and Redmayne did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. A representative for Norton declined to comment.

People on social media have since praised Ronan for her comment, which went viral, saying she had “gagged” the men on the talk show.

“Saoirse Ronan is a queen. Men need a reminder of what it's like to be a woman so they can appreciate their privilege. The silence after she said that speaks volumes,” one person wrote.

“This gets to the point of men not being aware of male privilege,” another shared. “The fact that these guys – really nice guys – are completely unaware of this is almost frightening. But thank God for Saoirse because we all need a little more attention.”

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Ronan is currently gearing up for the release of her upcoming film flash. In it she plays the single mother Rita, who lives in London with her 9-year-old son George in the middle of World War II.

According to a synopsis, the little boy “goes on an adventure but finds himself in grave danger while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son.”

The actress revealed this in a recent interview fashion that she was attracted to the film by the director, Steven McQueen, who directed it 12 years slave.

“I've been telling my agent for years: If someone like Steve McQueen asks me to meet them or audition for them, please make sure that happens,” she told the outlet.

However, at the time, Ronan was hesitant about making “another war film.”

“As soon as [Steve] started explaining to me that it was going to be this mother-son relationship and that we were going to stay home with everyone else… I was completely thrilled,” she said.

flash hits theaters on November 1st and then streams on Apple TV+ on November 22nd.