Saoirse Ronan doesn’t seem to find male privilege very amusing, nor is she afraid to say her piece. On Friday, the Oscar-nominated actress made an appearance on The Graham Norton Show to promote her upcoming film Blitz, when an awkward moment derailed the conversation. Seated alongside Ronan on Norton’s couch were actors Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne, and Denzel Washington. While discussing the training he underwent to portray an assassin in the miniseries The Day of the Jackal, Redmayne mentioned that he was taught to use his phone as a weapon if he was attacked. Norton and Mescal appeared to find this funny, as Mescal quipped, “Who is actually going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go ‘phone.’”
“Can you hold on a second?” Norton joked, pointing at an imaginary assailant and pantomiming taking his phone out of his pocket. “That’s a very good point,” Redmayne added.
saoirse ronan gagging men we love to see it pic.twitter.com/Oyu5cdlPBq
— scarlett ???? (@rvdlovess) October 26, 2024
Ronan then cut in, silencing her couchmates in ten words. “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.” Addressing the audience, she asked, “Am I right, ladies?” to applause. As the men laughed in discomfort, she threw up a double “hang loose” sign, which I am interpreting here to mean, “We can all agree I just absolutely owned these rich boys.”
Naturally, viewers were quick to circulate the clip online, noting that the men’s silence “speaks volumes.” “This encapsulates men being ignorant of male privilege in a nutshell,” one user wrote on X. “The fact that these guys — nice guys, mind — are just so unaware is almost terrifying. thank goodness for saoirse.” Personally speaking, I’m pretty burnt out on teaching men about their own privilege, so here’s hoping they see this clip! Thanks for your service, Saoirse.
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