Saoirse Ronan praised for her comments to Paul Mescal and others on ‘The Graham Norton Show’ about violence against women

Saoirse Ronan has won praise for reminding her male colleagues how often women face the threat of physical violence.

The four-time Oscar nominee, 30, showed up. on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show along with fellow actors Eddie Redmayne, Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington. When the group’s conversation began to include jokes about self-defense, Ronan spoke up and offered a sobering perspective.

It all comes as Redmayne, 42, detailed the intense physical training he had to undergo to play the killer in Peacock’s upcoming series The Day of the Jackal.

Redmayne began explaining how he learned to use a smartphone in self-defense by inserting it down an attacker’s throat.

Mescal, 28, then interrupted, saying that no one who had been physically attacked would ever have the sense to use their smartphone in such a way.

“Who will actually think about this? If someone actually attacks me, I’m not going to make a phone call,” he said, pretending to look for his phone in his pocket as the audience laughed.

Presenter Graham Norton then joined in, pretending to ask the attacker: “Can you wait a second?” patting himself while searching for an imaginary phone.

As Redmayne, Norton and others continued to laugh, Ronan chimed in: “It’s something girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?

After the laughter suddenly stopped, Norton’s audience began to cheer for Ronan. “Wow,” Washington marveled in response to his truth bomb.

TODAY.com has reached out to Redmayne, Mescal and Washington for comment.

After video conversation went viral on X, viewers began praising Ronan for speaking out about violence against women.

#SaoirseRonan with a reality check lesson for men. I love her very much.” wrote one.

One X user called Ronan a “queen.” letter“Men need to be reminded what it means to be a woman so they can appreciate their privilege. The silence after she said it speaks volumes.”

“The fact that these guys—good guys, mind you—are just unaware of it is almost terrifying. But thank God Saoirse, because we all need to bring a little more attention to this.” added another.

Not all responses were complimentary of Ronan. Some X users accused her of being “vibe killer” while others argued that her point of view was based on “pure female victimhood and ignorance.”

However, other users seemed to expect such comments, such as one wrote“It’s an awkward silence that I’ve experienced several times around men. They think it kills the mood, but in reality it just forces them to come to terms with reality after they make stupid comments that show how oblivious they are.”