"She was spot-on"— Paul Mescal addresses Saoirse Ronan's viral self-defense comment on The Graham Norton Show

Paul Mescal recently reacted to Saoirse Ronan's viral comments about self-defense and women's safety on The Graham Norton Show on October 25. The Lady Bird star made headlines for her response after Mescal and Eddie Redmayne's talked about learning self-defense and seemingly harmlessly joking about using the butt of a phone as a weapon. At the time, Ronan said:

"That's what girls have to think about all the time."

A brief pause from fellow actors ensued before the audience cheered and clapped for the Blitz actress. After the clip from the interview went viral, Paul Mescal shared what he thinks of Ronan's comment during his appearance on RTE's The Late Late Show on Saturday, November 16.

When asked whether he was surprised that Ronan's comment went viral online, the Gladiator II star said that he wasn't, adding:

"I think she just made...she was spot on."

The actor called the subject of women's safety and self-defense "massively important," so he's not shocked why his friend and fellow actor's comment has gained viral traction. He also praised Ronan during the interview, saying:

"I'm sure you've had Saoirse on the show. She's quite often, more often than not, the most intelligent person in the room."

---

Paul Mescal thinks Saoirse Ronan "hit the nail on the head" with her comment on The Graham Norton Show

Besides praising Saoirse Ronan for her comments during their appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Paul Mescal is all for bringing the subject of women's safety to the forefront. On RTE's The Late Late Show, Mescal said:

"[She] hit the nail on the head, and it's also good that messages like that are kind of gaining traction."

The actor further agreed that it's something that everyone should be talking about.

"That's a conversation that we should absolutely be having on a daily basis."

But unlike Paul Mescal, Saoirse Ronan wasn't expecting her comment to gain huge traction online. During her interview with The Ryan Tubridy Show on October 30, she called her viral reaction on the BBC One show "wild,". She said:

"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... 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 also urges people to watch the interview "in context" or watch the whole interview or at least that part of the conversation. At some point, Ronan defended her fellow actors, saying that "the boys weren't sort of like debunking" whatever she was saying.

She likened the conversation on the show to having dinner with a bunch of her friends, and her viral comment is just her making a point that people go through something like it every single day.

Saoirse Ronan added that Paul Mescal is one of her "very dear friends" and that they've had conversations like that, and the Normal People star "completely gets that."

---

Paul Mescal stars in Gladiator II as Lucius, which hit movie theaters in the UK on November 15 and the US cinemas on November 22.