Self-defense joke: Saoirse Ronan’s counterattack goes viral

Saoirse Ronan (30) went viral with a comment about women’s self-defense on “The Graham Norton Show”. The Irish actress was a guest on the show on Friday (October 25) with Paul Mescal (28), Denzel Washington (69) and Eddie Redmayne (42). When filming his current series project “The Day of the Jackal,” Redmayne said he was taught to use his cell phone to defend himself in the event of an attack. Mescal then made fun of the weapon replacement. “Who would really think about that?” the actor said, imitating the motion of taking a cell phone out of his pocket.

Talk show host Graham Norton (61) joined in on the joke. “Can you wait a moment?” he asked his imaginary attacker, frantically searching for his smartphone. “That’s a very good point,” Redmayne agreed with the two. As the only woman on the show, Ronan said: “Girls always have to think about that” and silenced those present. “Am I right, ladies?” she asked the group, whereupon the audience applauded and cheered.

Ronan also received great support on social networks. One user shared on The video was liked over 153,000 times and garnered more than 54 million views.

Below the post there are countless Twitter accounts praising Ronan for her contribution. “She shut them up real quick,” one person wrote, earning several thousand likes. “The silence is killing me,” read another comment. Annoyed, another person wrote: “This is what it feels like to have a conversation with a man.”

Ronan visited the talk show a few days before the release of the war drama “Blitz” (2024), in which she has a leading role. The Irishwoman takes on the role of mother Rita, who sends her son George (Elliott Heffernan) to safety in the countryside during World War II. However, the nine-year-old makes it his goal to return to her and his grandfather in London.

The film by director Steve McQueen (55) will be shown in cinemas in Great Britain and the USA from November 1st. It is scheduled to start in Germany the following week. According to the streaming service AppleTV+, it will be available from November 22nd.