Saoirse Ronan says viral ‘The Graham Norton Show’ clip is “opening a conversation” around women’s safety
Hollywood actor Saoirse Ronan has reacted to a clip from her appearance on The Graham Norton Show last week, saying the response has been vital in “opening a conversation” about women’s safety.
In the clip, which was taken from the BBC’s broadcast on October 25th, accompanying guest Eddie Redmayne explains how he had been taught how to use a phone as a weapon for his role in The Day of the Jackal. Paul Mescal then jokes about what you might do during an attack, with reaching for your phone being the last thing you might have the time to do.
Ronan then chimes in with her perspective, saying: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?”
The Irish star’s response was met with applause from the audience and has since gone viral on social media, with Ronan praised for speaking confidently about a vital societal matter with millions of eyes watching on television.
During a new interview on Virgin Radio UK with Ryan Tubridy, Ronan revealed she didn’t anticipate the reaction but claimed it has been impactful in opening up a dialogue about important, everyday issues that aren’t always dealt with so openly.
“I 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,” she said, saying that the conversation felt 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%.”
Despite the surprising response, she said that the clip going viral was “amazing” because it is “opening a conversation” and “allowing more women to just be like, well, yeah, actually, let’s talk about our experience.”
Furthermore, Ronan also shared an experience speaking with another woman who said the clip reminded her of the “fake phone call” — a concept that occurs when a woman suspects she is being followed, and so pretends to be on a fake call to ward off any potential danger.
“Of course, you wouldn’t understand if you’ve not had to go through anything like that,” she said. “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.”
Ronan appeared on The Graham Norton Show to discuss her latest movie Blitz, in which she plays a mother searching for her son during World War II in London. She also recently revealed her ambition to take more ambitious roles, including aspiring to one day appear in the James Bond franchise as a villain.
“I think her and Bond don’t get together or anything – she’s a villain, like Javier Bardem vibes,” she told Josh Horowitz during the Happy Sad Confused podcast, adding that she is “conscious of being blonde because I feel like a lot of villains in movies, they always make them super blonde and good-looking.”
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