Saoirse Ronan slammed Paul Mescal for laughing at her and talking over her in an awkward interaction minutes before she spoke out about gender-based violence.
The Irish actress, 30, set social media on fire after Friday’s appearance on The Graham Norton Show when she made a joke about self-defense while sitting alongside an otherwise all-male panel – including actors Paul, Denzel Washington and Eddie Redmayne.
In the extraordinary scenes, Saoirse silenced the men when she intervened and joked about how to defend themselves against an attacker, saying: “That’s what women have to think about all the time.”
The viral clip has sparked a global debate, with commentators labeling the moment as awkward but necessary to highlight the issue of violence against women.
Yet it was far from the only awkward moment of the evening, as just minutes earlier Saorise clashed with 28-year-old Paul as he mocked her performance in a previous film role.
Saoirse Ronan slammed Paul Mescal for talking about her in an awkward interaction on The Graham Norton Show, minutes before she spoke out about gender-based violence (LR Paul, Denzel Washington, Saoirse and Eddie Redmayne’)
The men on the panel had discussed undergoing physical transformations for roles, with presenter Graham, 61, soon asking Saoirse about her role in 2011’s Hanna (pictured in the film)
The men on the panel had spoken about undergoing physical transformations for roles, with host Graham, 61, quickly turning the spotlight to Saoirse.
He asked about the training regimen for her titular role in the 2011 action thriller Hanna, in which she plays a young girl raised to be an assassin by her ex-CIA agent father (Eric Bana).
When a photo of Saoirse in the film appeared on the screen, the boys immediately burst out laughing, prompting the actress to warn, “don’t laugh.”
Paul pointed to the photo, continued to chuckle and commented, “just look at her!” as Saoirse continued: ‘That’s a cult classic, she just shot a deer…’
Paul interrupted her and laughed, “of course,” as Saoirse warned again, “stop laughing Paul….”
Graham tried to change the subject and asked Paul, “Have you seen Hanna?” It’s a really good movie!’ and the Normal People star confessed that he hadn’t.
When Saoirse went to speak again, Paul intervened by joking, “I want to go for Halloween just like you!” to which a visibly annoyed Saoirse said: “Okay, you’ve had your time talking.”
Denzel, 69, eased the tension and began to slide into his seat, joking, “Somehow I knew I had to back up!” as Saoirse insisted: ‘no, no, no, we love each other.’
When a photo of Saoirse in the film appeared on the screen, the boys immediately burst out laughing, prompting the actress to warn: ‘don’t laugh’
When Saoirse went to speak again, Paul intervened by joking, “I want to go for Halloween just like you!” prompting a visibly irritated Saoirse to point out, “Okay, you’ve had your time talking.”
The tense moment happened just minutes before Saoirse silenced the men with her comments on gender-based violence.
During the chat, Eddie, 42, explained that during his training for The Day of the Jackal, an upcoming Peacock miniseries, he was instructed on how to use a phone to get revenge in the event of an attack.
A laughing Paul then joked: ‘Who is actually going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to ‘call’.”
Giggling, Graham pretended to hold a phone to fend off an attacker and said, “Can you wait a minute?” to which Eddie said, “That’s a very good point.”
After talking about it in the chat, Saoirse finally found a moment to speak, stating, “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.”
The brutally honest comment led to a moment of silence in the panel.
“Am I right, ladies?” she then asked the audience, eliciting huge applause from the studio audience.
Although Saoirse and Paul had an awkward interaction on the show, there is no bad blood between the pair.
The Irish actors are even close friends after starring together in the 2023 sci-fi film Foe, in which they played a married couple.
During the promo tour for the film, Saoirse explained how the role had brought them closer together: “We knew each other before, just through friends.
‘We have become very close since making the film. We are true friends; we’re not Hollywood friends.’
The tense moment happened just minutes before Saoirse silenced the men with her comments on gender-based violence
Although Saoirse and Paul had an awkward interaction on the show, there is no bad blood between the pair. The Irish actors are even close friends after starring together in the 2023 sci-fi film Foe
Saoirse is currently promoting her war drama Blitz, which is expected to hit theaters on November 1 and then stream on Apple TV+ on November 22.
The film also stars Elliott Heffernan, Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clémentine, Kathy Burke, Paul Weller and Stephen Graham.
Blitz, written and directed by Steven McQueen, “follows the stories of a group of Londoners during the events surrounding the bombing of the British capital in World War II,” reads a logline for the film.
Saoirse portrays a woman named Rita raising her son George, nine, (Heffernan) amid the tumultuous times.
