Why Saoirse Ronan Was “Not Expecting” Her Comments on Self-Defense to Go Viral

Warning: This story contains details about a victim of sexual assault and murder.

Saoirse Ronan didn’t realize her comments on women’s safety would make waves.

The Lady Bird actress made headlines in October following her appearance on The Graham Norton Show when she reminded fellow guests Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne, and Denzel Washington that using a cell phone as a weapon—as Eddie learned to while training for a role—wasn’t as absurd as they imagined.

"That's what girls have to think about all the time," Saoirse said to the group of men before she turned to the crowd and said, "Am I right, ladies?"

The snippet from the interview quickly went viral. And while she stressed that the moment “needs to be kept in context” she noted that it actually felt pretty natural for her to bring up.

"I guess what was really interesting about the response, that I totally was not expecting, is that this is the kind of conversation that I would have with my female and male friends,” Saoirse said during her Nov. 7 appearance on Today. “We make points like this all the time." 

The Little Women star also shared that these discussions about safety started happening more frequently after the “horrific” 2021 death of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old who was abducted, raped and murdered by a Metropolitan Police officer in London.

"She followed all the rules, and she did everything that she was supposed to do to keep herself safe,” Saoirse continued, “and she still ended up dead. And I think that that really opened up this conversation for everyone back at home."

Since then, the Oscar nominee has become “really vocal” about her personal experiences and is happy to start more conversations about women’s safety. 

"I think people have needed something like this, on a platform like that, to go, ‘OK, we can talk about it now,’ and just to talk about that," Saoirse—who is married to actor Jack Lowden—said. "And, of course, it's not something that guys would have to think about. But I think it's really important for us, for all of our little young girls that are growing up, that we go like, 'This is the this is the mentality that a woman has to have, and that a young girl has to have every day of her life.'"

But the actress has also made it clear that Paul is her “dear friend” and was not “debunking” what she was saying.

“He completely gets that and completely understands that,” Saoirse told the U.K.’s Virgin Radio, per Deadline, “but I think the fact that there was a moment like that that happened on a show like Graham Norton, which is something that the entire nation channels and to watch and even overseas, it’s something that people tune into, it seems to have had an accessibility which seems to have really gained traction.”

(E! and Today are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)