Paul Mescal Explains Why He’s Not ‘Surprised’ Saoirse Ronan’s Comment About Women’s Safety Went Viral

Paul Mescal says Saoirse Ronan “hit the nail on the head” when she schooled him and the other members of an all-male panel about women’s safety during an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show” that went viral.

During the Oct. 25 episode, the “Lady Bird” star, 30, brought actors Mescal, Denzel Washington and Eddie Redmayne down to earth by pointing out the extra measures women have to take to stay safe from gender-based violence.

After Redmayne revealed he was taught how to use a phone as a weapon while playing an assassin in “The Day of the Jackal,” Mescal mocked the idea of pulling out his phone while dealing with an attacker.

“Who’s actually going to think about that?” Mescal joked, prompting Ronan to reply, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.”

“Am I right ladies?” she asked as the audience applauded.

While appearing on Ireland’s “The Late Late Show” on Friday, the “Gladiator 2” star, 28, showed support for Ronan after he was asked if he was surprised the actor’s blunt remarks became so noteworthy online.

“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 told host Patrick Kielty. “But I’m not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got because it’s massively important.”

Mescal called Ronan’s memorable comment “spot on.”

<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="YouTube" data-component-id="6294" data-component-props="{"itemType":"video","index":11,"contentIndexByType":2,"contentListType":"embed","code":"

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"The Late Late Show","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC52Ou5u4yl7PiQzDaYIrICg","cache_age":86400,"description":"Leading man Paul Mescal joins Patrick Kielty on The Late Late Show to chat about filming Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II and much more.\n\nWatch The Late Late Show live and on-demand from anywhere in the world at http://www.rte.ie/player.\n\nThe Late Late Show | Fridays | RTÉ One, 9:35pm Irish Time","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Tqa6bieg-Y4/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Paul Mescal: Gladiator II, training & Saoirse Ronan | The Late Late Show – Full Interview","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqa6bieg-Y4","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://www.huffpost.com","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"673a466be4b0dc77d7d7f06b","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/paul-mescal-praises-saoirse-ronan-talk-show-comment_n_673a466be4b0dc77d7d7f06b","entryTagsList":"saoirse-ronan,paul-mescal,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment","subcategories":"celebrity,women","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/76eca414-53f8-4b51-b493-63481006f093/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":6},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"673a466be4b0dc77d7d7f06b","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Saoirse Ronan","slug":"saoirse-ronan","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/saoirse-ronan","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/saoirse-ronan","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/saoirse-ronan"},"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Saoirse Ronan","slug":"saoirse-ronan","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment/topic/saoirse-ronan"},{"name":"paul mescal","slug":"paul-mescal","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/paul-mescal","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/paul-mescal","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/paul-mescal"},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/paul-mescal"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

[embedded content]

“But I think she was spot on, hit the nail on the head, and it’s also good that messages like that are kind of gaining traction, like that’s a conversation that we should absolutely be having on a daily basis,” he added

The “All of Us Strangers” star then gushed about his co-star in 2023′s “Foe.”

“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.”

We Need Your Support

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can’t do it without you.

Can’t afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You’ve supported HuffPost before, and we’ll be honest — we could use your help again. We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can’t do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Late last month, Ronan admitted she hadn’t intended to “make a splash” with her comment but was glad to see it received so much traction.

“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,” she said in a Virgin Radio UK interview, according to Deadline. “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.