Saoirse Ronan is hailed for her powerful reminder about violence against women on The Graham Norton Show that left all-male panel in stunned silence

Women on social media have praised actress Saoirse Ronan for ‘speaking her mind’ after silencing her fellow guests on The Graham Norton Show with a stark reminder of gender-based violence.

The American-born Irish actress left the all-male panel – which included actors Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne – in collective silence after shouting a joke about self-defence.

The clip has since gone viral, with social media users saying the ‘silence spoke volumes’ as they spoke of their ‘admiration’ for the Oscar-nominated actress.

The moment came when Redmayne, 42, told a story about how during his training for The Day of the Jackal he was shown how to use a phone to take revenge in the event of an attack.

Mescal, 28, burst out laughing and joked: “Who’s even going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to ‘call’.”

Norton, 61, shared the joke, pretending to hold a phone to fend off an attacker and joking, “Can you wait a minute?” to which Redmayne said: ‘That’s a very good point.’

But the laughter quickly stopped when Ronan, 30, reminded the men’s bench: “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.

Ronan – who says she would love to play a Bond villain – received even more praise on social media, as people praised her for speaking out about the situation.

“Saoirse Ronan has a very strong presence and is not afraid to speak her mind,” said one user.

Another female user said: ‘I really admire Saoirse Ronan – when she mentions how women have to constantly think about how to defend ourselves from attacks and everyone goes quiet and then cheers. She’s so right!’

A third called Ronan “a queen” and said that “men need to be reminded what it’s like to be women so they can appreciate their privilege.”

The user noted that “the silence after she said that speaks volumes,” while another said, “the silence takes me out.”

A separate user said the clip “encapsulates men’s ignorance of male privilege in a nutshell.

“The fact that these guys – nice guys, mind you – are so oblivious is almost terrifying,” the user added. “But thank goodness for Saoirse, because we all need a little more attention on this.”

One user said the moment was a microcosm of how men and women communicate, saying: ‘This is what it feels like to ever have a conversation with men.’

Another user said that tone deafness on the gender issue was evident in the segment from the popular British talk show.

“What angered me most is that Saoirse Ronan, the only woman on the panel, almost had to fight to get her point across among a group of laughing men who didn’t take her input or women’s experiences into account,” says the user. said. “Almost like that’s the whole damn problem, isn’t it?”

Ronan 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.

Ronan portrays a woman named Rita raising her son George, nine, (Heffernan) amid the tumultuous times.