Saoirse Ronan did not expect her off-handed comment on The Graham Norton Show to go as viral as it did, but she thinks it’s “wild” and “amazing” that the moment resonated with women the world over. Ronan addressed the video clip’s popularity on social media to Ryan Tubridy during The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK while promoting her new wartime drama Blitz, as reported on by Rolling Stone.
Ronan appeared on the longstanding British chat show on October 25, alongside Gladiator II actors Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal, as well as The Day of the Jackal star Eddie Redmayne. During the conversation, Redmayne brought up a defensive training trick he learned on the set of the TV thriller — using your cell phone as a defense weapon — which set the men on stage into silly hysterics upon considering the seeming absurdity of using one’s cell phone to protect them from an attacker.
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“Who’s actually gonna think about that, though?” Mescal remarked. “If someone attacked me, I’m not gonna go, ‘Phone.'” To which Ronan coolly replied, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” This immediately silenced Redmayne, Mescal, Washington, and Norton, while the women in the audience cheered.
Saoirse Ronan Didn’t Set Out to Clapback at Paul Mescal
Speaking with Tubridy, Ronan called the reaction “wild,” before adding that “It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash.”
“I do think there’s something really telling about the society that we’re in right now and about how open women want to be with the men in their lives,” Ronan explained. “So many men and women that I know from all over the world have gotten in touch with me about this one comment.”
“The boys weren’t sort of like debunking anything that I was saying,” Ronan added. “But at the same time, it felt very similar to like when I am at dinner with a bunch of my friends and I will always make the point that, well, this is actually an experience that we go through every single day.”
“It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash.”
Shared the world over by thousands of women online, the clip has allowed women an opportunity to be more frank and open with the men in their lives about the ways they are forced to think and operate within the world. The actress even noted a conversation that came up between her and some friends where the women mentioned another popular security measure taken when out alone: the fake phone call. It was something one of the men was purportedly shocked to learn about. “‘What fake phone call? What do you mean?'” was the man’s reaction, Ronan recalled.
“And of course, you wouldn’t understand if you’ve not had to go through anything like that,” Ronan said. But that’s just what women do, whether they talk to the men in their lives about it or not. “She somehow, throughout her life as a female, has gained these tools without ever talking to other women about it, understanding that this is sort of a survival tactic. And we’ve all sort of, like, subconsciously found the same tools and used them again and again, and I find that really interesting.”
During the London Blitz of World War II, a diverse group of Londoners navigates the chaos and destruction of the German bombardment. Their intertwined stories of survival, resilience, and camaraderie capture the spirit of a city under siege.
- Release Date
- November 1, 2024
- Cast
- Elliott Heffernan , Saoirse Ronan , Paul Weller , Harris Dickinson , Benjamin Clementine , Kathy Burke , Stephen Graham , Leigh Gill , Mica Ricketts , CJ Beckford , Alex Jennings , Joshua McGuire , Hayley Squires , Erin Kellyman , Sally Messham