Saoirse Ronan says reaction to viral Graham Norton Show clip has been ‘wild’

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Irish actress Saoirse Ronan has spoken about the “wild” reaction to a viral clip from The Graham Norton Show where she made a remark about gender-based violence.

Blitz actress Ronan, 30, appeared on the BBC One talk show alongside Gladiator II star Paul Mescal, US actor Denzel Washington, and Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne last Friday.

Redmayne, 42, revealed he had been taught how to use a phone in an attack while he was training for his role as a lone assassin in Sky Atlantic series The Day Of The Jackal.

In response, Mescal, 28, said: “If someone attacks me I’m not going to go (reaches into pocket) phone”, before Ronan chimed in and said: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?”.

Speaking on The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK on Wednesday, Ronan said: “The reaction has been wild. It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash.

“But 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.

“So many men and women that I know from all over the world have gotten in touch with me about this one comment, which is, again, I would urge people, please, please, please to watch this in context.

“Please watch the whole interview or watch at least that part of the conversation, because it really wasn’t about… the boys weren’t sort of like debunking anything that I was saying.

“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, 100%.”

Ronan said Normal People star Mescal is one of her “very dear friends” and added that she has “had conversations like that with him before, and he completely gets that.”

She continued: “I think the fact that there was a moment like that that happened on a show like Graham Norton, which is something that the entire nation channels in to watch and even overseas, it’s something that people tune into, it seems to have had an accessibility which seems to have really gained traction, which I think is amazing.

“It’s opening a conversation and again, hopefully, it’s allowing more and more women to just be like, well, yeah, actually, let’s talk about our experience.

“I met a woman last night who’s working on Blitz, and she said ‘It’s really interesting, after we watched that interview, myself and a few of my female friends were with my husband and we said, you know, this really reminds me of the fake phone call.’

“And her husband went, ‘What, fake phone call? What do you mean?’.

“And of course, you wouldn’t understand if you’ve not had to go through anything like that. But she somehow, throughout her life as a female, has gained these tools without ever talking to other women about it and understanding that this is sort of a survival tactic.

“And we’ve all sort of subconsciously found the same tools and use them again and again and I find that really interesting.”

Earlier in the month Sir Steve McQueen’s Blitz launched the BFI London Film Festival, attended by Ronan who plays Rita, a mother searching for her son as the Second World War ravages London.

Ronan is also known for starring in Hanna (2011), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Ladybird (2017) and Little Women (2019).