Paul Mescal Addresses the Viral Saoirse Ronan Interaction About Self-Defense: She ‘Hit the Nail on the Head’

Paul Mescal is praising Saoirse Ronan for her recent viral moment on The Graham Norton Show.

During Ireland’s The Late Late Show on Friday, Nov. 15, the Gladiator II star addressed the memorable Oct. 25 appearance, which saw his Foe costar turn a joke about self-defense made by Mescal and other male guests into a moment of perspective about violence against women.

When asked whether he and fellow guests Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington were taken back at all by Ronan’s reaction, the actor used his answer to approve of her point, which, as host Patrick Kielty put it, was an “important message about women and how they look after each other.”

“No, I don’t think we were surprised because, as you said, you’re on a talk show like this and you’re kind of just talking,” Mescal, 28, explained. “But I’m not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got because it’s massively important.”

The Normal People actor also praised Ronan, 30, in particular. “I’m sure you’ve had Saoirse on the show,” he told Kielty. “And she’s quite often, if more often than not, the most intelligent person in the room.”

The Graham Norton Show moment was no exception, according to Mescal, who said Ronan was “spot on” and “hit the nail on the head.”

“It’s also good that messages like that are kind of gaining traction,” he said. “That’s a conversation we should absolutely be having on a daily basis.”

The Little Women actress previously revealed that the response to her comments was certainly unexpected, at least on her end.

“It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash,” she said on The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK in October.

“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,” she added. “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.”

The Oscar-nominated actress also clarified that her fellow guests were not “debunking” anything she said, and that Mescal, in particular, “completely gets” the issue she raised, as they have talked about it personally before.

The viral moment arose in the context of Redmayne’s latest role as an assassin, through which he learned to use his phone as a weapon. Pondering the strategy, Mescal and host Graham Norton began to joke, saying that they would not use their phone against an attacker.

“Who is actually going to think about that?” Mescal said, mimicking removing a phone out of his pocket. “If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go ‘phone.’ ”

After Redmayne and Norton both chimed in, Ronan interjected to say, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.”

“Am I right, ladies?” she added, drawing loud applause from the audience — and, later, praise online from fans for the way she “gagged” the men.