As two male celebrities who have made a point of being on the right side of culture wars, being silenced by actress Saoirse Ronan on national television marked a humiliating blow for actors Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne.
Mescal, 28, and Redmayne, 42, were caught up in a toe-curling moment on Friday as they appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Denzel Washington and Ronan – the only female guest on the panel.
A typical conversation on Norton’s sofa was in full flow when an anecdote by Redmayne about training for his upcoming miniseries The Day of the Jackal led to a moment to forget for the four male celebrities.
Redmayne, who starred in The Theory of Everything, recalled how he was trained to use a phone to retaliate in the event of an attack.
But a guffawing Mescal interjected by asking: ‘Who is actually going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go ‘phone’.’
As an unimpressed Ronan stayed silent, Norton, 61, mimicked holding a phone to fend off an attacker and joked, ‘Can you hold on a second?’ to which Redmayne laughed and replied, ‘That’s a very good point.’
Having been unable to get a word in, Ronan, 30, waited for her moment before silencing the sofa of men by reminding them: ‘That’s what girls have to think about all the time.’
The eruption of laughter came to a sudden stop before Ronan turned to the crowd and asked ‘Am I right, ladies?’, eliciting a huge round of applause.
The viral moment has led to Ronan being widely praised for standing up for women, while the male celebrities have sparked a backlash.
It marks a particular blow for Mescal and Redmayne who have long portrayed themselves as right on celebrities. ‘People creating an entire ‘indie music loving leftist feminist woke icon’ persona for Paul Mescal and then realising he’s literally just a man is so funny,’ one social media user quipped.
Saoirse Ronan pointed out the dangers women face during Thursday’s episode, as she appeared alongside Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne
Saoirse Ronan silenced her fellow guests on The Graham Norton Show with a powerful reminder about gender-based violence
One social media user summed up the moment by posting: ‘People creating an entire ‘indie music loving leftist feminist woke icon’ persona for Paul Mescal and then realising he’s literally just a man is so funny.’
Paul Mescal shot to fame in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People. He was quickly anointed as ‘the internet’s boyfriend’
Eddie Redmayne has previously admitted that playing a transgender character in The Danish Girl was a ‘mistake’
Shooting to fame alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, humble and witty Mescal quickly became one of Hollywood’s most popular actors and was portrayed by fans as somewhat of a sex symbol.
He was quickly anointed as ‘the internet’s boyfriend’ with fans projecting an image on to him of being the perfect modern guy like his character, embodying a new kind of masculinity.
Mescal bought into this role and was often asked about consent and mental health in interviews, which were big themes of Normal People.
When speaking about his Normal People character, Connell, asking for consent in the first sex scene, he told Russh in 2020: ‘I think that moment is incredibly sexy. It could have appeared really sanitised, like: look at this character doing the right thing. But, of course he is doing the right thing.’
Mescal has also spoken out about feeling objectified after Normal People, particularly when he was groped by a fan asking for a photo outside London’s Almeida Theatre, where he was starring in an acclaimed production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
‘As we posed for it, she put her hand on my ass. I thought it was an accident, so I like (moved away) but the hand followed,’ he told ES Magazine in February 2023.
‘I remember tensing up and feeling just, like, fury. I turned to her and said, ‘What’re you doing? Take your hand off my ass’.’
He said it was ‘uncomfortable for everyone involved’ and he didn’t want to ‘call somebody out in front of the theatre’, but that ‘it was so gross, creepy’.
Describing his experience of fame, Mescal added: ‘97% of it is really nice – then 3% is somebody, like, grabbing your ass.’
Saoirse Ronan has been praised for her comments on an episode of The Graham Norton Show
The Oscar-nominated actress said, ‘That’s what girls have to think about all the time,’ as the actors joked about using a phone for self-defence
Ronan garnered plaudits on social media, as people lauded her for speaking up in the situation
Mescal also made headlines last year when he played a gay character in All of Us Strangers alongside Andrew Scott.
He defended the decision, telling The Sunday Times: ‘It depends who’s in charge of telling the story. The issue is that there have been so many queer performances in cinema that have been offensive, but that’s because the filmmakers and the actors have been careless.’
All of Us Strangers was written and directed by Andrew Haigh, a gay man who has explored homosexual relationships in previous works such as Weekend.
‘I don’t think this film exists in that conversation whatsoever. And that’s it,’ Mescal added.
Like Mescal, Redmayne has also tried to portray himself as a politically correct actor in Hollywood.
In 2021, the actor admitted that playing a transgender character in The Danish Girl (2015) was a ‘mistake’.
The British star was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Lile Elbe, one of the first people to ever have gender reassignment surgery.
At the time, the film earned rave reviews but some critics argued a trans actor should have been cast instead.
Ronan’s remarks came as Redmayne explained that amid his training for The Day Of The Jackal, he received instruction as how to use a phone to defend himself in an attack
‘No, I wouldn’t take it on now. I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake,’ he said.
‘The bigger discussion about the frustrations around casting is because many people don’t have a chair at the table,’ Redmayne told The Sunday Times, external.
‘There must be a levelling, otherwise we are going to carry on having these debates.’
The film was released the year after Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Actor as Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.
At the time, he defended his role as a trans character, saying there had been ‘years of cisgender success on the back of trans stories’.
He was later criticised for suggesting The Danish Girl had helped bring trans issues to mainstream attention. In response he said it was ‘an honour to be part of this conversation in some small way’ and that he was ‘an ally of the trans community’.
Redmayne, who starred in Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, is also among a number of actors to call out JK Rowling’s gender-critical views.
After Rowling posted tweets taking issue with the phrase ‘people who menstruate’, Redmayne said: ‘I disagree with Jo’s comments. Trans women are women, trans men are men and non-binary identities are valid.’
The reaction to the Saoirse Ronan moment is something Mescal, Redmayne, Washington and Norton will not be fond of.
As social media became awash with reaction to the moment, one user summarised: ‘I like this clip because these two are arguably some of the least toxically masculine actors, who have shown real intention to make space for female voices in their careers, and yet they are men, so they will never live in a woman’s skin and truly understand the violence we live with.’
Ronan – who says she would like to play a Bond villain – has been widely praised for highlighting women’s safety by interjecting.
Madeleine Black, a sexual violence activist, told MailOnline: ‘It’s just so normal for us to feel fear. How are we going to get home? Are we safe? It’s a shame that has to be reminded and she [Ronan] was the only single woman on that panel.
‘The silence suggests that they [the male actors] didn’t know what to do. It made them uncomfortable and I think they should be uncomfortable because it is the truth for many women.’
Ms Black, who has previously shared her story of being raped aged 13 in her memoir Unbroken, added: ‘I think when men do joke about it, it lessens the impact. It takes away the seriousness of what women have to face on a daily basis. It weakens it.
‘I think it’s always important to call it out whenever we hear things like that for the women listening as well, because it obviously resonated because it’s gone so viral with so many women. It’s just a normality. It’s part of our normal life.
‘We really do need to speak out about it and we need men to be our allies as well.’
Ronan also garnered further plaudits on social media, as people lauded her for speaking up in the situation.
‘Saoirse Ronan has a very strong presence and isn’t afraid to speak her mind,’ said one user.
Another female user said: ‘I admire Saoirse Ronan so much – when she mentions how women have to think constantly how to defend ourselves from attack and everyone goes quiet and then cheers. She’s so right!’
A third called Ronan ‘a queen,’ saying that ‘men need a reminder what it’s like being a woman so they can appreciate their privilege.
The user noted that ‘the silence after she said that speaks volumes,’ while another said ‘the silence is taking me out.’
A separate user said that the clip ‘encapsulates men being ignorant of male privilege in a nutshell.
‘The fact that these guys – nice guys, mind – are just so unaware is almost terrifying,’ the user added. ‘Thank goodness for Saoirse though because we all need a bit more attention drawn to this.’
One user said the moment was a microcosm of how men and women communicate, saying that ‘this is what it feels like to have any convo with men ever.’
Another user said that tone deafness in regards to the gender issue was evident in the excerpt from the popular British talk show.
‘The thing that angered me the most is that Saoirse Ronan, the only woman on the panel, had to almost fight to make her point amongst a group of laughing men who didn’t consider her input or the experiences of women,’ the user said. ‘Almost as if that’s the entire f****** problem isn’t it?’
Representatives for Mescal, Redmayne and Washington have been approached for comment.