Paul Mescal Reflects On Saoirse Ronan’s Viral Comments About Women’s Safety: “Hit The Nail On The Head”

Paul Mescal addressed that viral moment on The Graham Norton Show alongside colleague and friend Saoirse Ronan, where the actress brought attention to safety concerns women everywhere face on the daily.

During an appearance on Patrick Kielty’s The Late Late Showthe Gladiator II star said he wasn’t surprised at the comment taking over social media discourse, praising Ronan for pointing out the dual standard.

“As you said, you’re on a talk show like this and you’re kind of just talking, but I’m not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got because it’s a massively important [one],” the Normal People star explained.

He continued, “She’s quite often — more often than not — the most intelligent person in the room, and I think she was spot-on, hit the nail on the head. And it’s also good that messages like that are gaining traction. That’s the sort of conversation we should be having on a daily basis.”

Last month, Mescal and Ronan appeared sofa-side on the British talk show alongside Denzel Washington and Eddie Redmayne. After Redmayne said he was trained to use a phone as a weapon for a role, Mescal joked about the logistics of doing so in the event of an actual assault, cracking up the men as he acted out putting his mom on hold to deal with the supposed assailant. The Outrun actress, who wasn’t able to get a word in edgewise, finally quipped, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?” to audience applause.

While Ronan later called the headline-making reaction to her words “wild” and unexpected, as she wasn’t “necessarily set[ting] out to sort of make a splash,” she did acknowledge that it brought to light differing realities faced by men and women that deserve attention.

“The boys weren’t sort of debunking anything that I was saying. But at the same time, it felt very similar to 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,” she said, adding that she had discussed the topic with “dear friend” Mescal previously.

“He completely gets that and completely understands that, but 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 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.”