Saoirse Ronan claps back at male actors' joke on self-defense: 'That's what girls have to think about all the time'
Saoirse Ronan made the rounds online after clapping back at her male colleagues' joke about self-defense.
The American-born Irish actress appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne, and Denzel Washington.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that Redmayne was talking about his preparation for the upcoming series The Day of the Jackal, including using his phone as a weapon during an attack.
Mescal poked fun at the idea of doing so.
“Who is actually going to think about that?” he said. “If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go phone."
Ronan tried to chime in, but Mescal, Redmayne, and Norton were still talking about and laughing at the joke.
saoirse ronan gagging men we love to see it pic.twitter.com/Oyu5cdlPBq
— scarlett 🍒 (@rvdlovess) October 26, 2024
Norton then imagined an attacker, tapping his pockets looking for his phone, saying, "Can you hang on a second."
Mescal then pretended to use a would-be phone, saying, “Sorry mum, one second," before acting like the attacker and doing a gunpoint gesture, "Bang!"
“That’s a very good point,” Redmayne said.
Ronan was just looking at the men around her, seemingly trying to find an opportunity to speak up.
She could be heard speaking softly at first, but since they were still laughing, she interrupted with a loud voice, "That's what girls have to think about all the time."
A brief pause ensues, as Ronan's colleagues start looking at each other.
"Am I right, ladies?" she told the crowd before getting a round of applause.
An excerpt of the moment made the rounds on X, with the uploader noting how Ronan was "gagging men" with her response.
Users commended Ronan for her comment.
"Saoirse Ronan is a queen," one user said. "Men need a reminder [of] what it’s like being a woman so they can appreciate their privilege. The silence after she said that speaks volumes."
"Saoirse Ronan has a very strong presence and isn’t afraid to speak her mind!" another user said.
“This encapsulates men being ignorant of male privilege in a nutshell,” another one said. “The fact that these guys – nice guys, mind – are just so unaware is almost terrifying. Thank goodness for Saoirse though because we all need a bit more attention drawn to this.”