Paul Mescal has finally responded to the viral moment Saoirse Ronan shut down a conversation about women’s safety on The Graham Norton Show.
It was when the Irish actors were joined on the red sofa by Academy Award winners Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington that a joke about women and using phones as a defence tactic was tactfully shut down by Ronan.
The moment arose after Redmayne talked about his role as an assassin in the Sky Atlantic series The Day Of The Jackal, and he described how he was taught to use a phone in an attack, by thrusting it at an attacker’s throat.
That’s when Mescal, 28, joked: “Who is actually going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go ‘phone.’”
“That’s a very good point,” Redmayne said as they laughed and Graham Norton joined in.
Paul Mescal responded to the viral moment (BBC)
Ronan tried to interject a couple of times before she was able to chime in and say: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?”
Now, Mescal has responded to the moment, after Ronan was praised for her remark.
The Gladiator actor was asked on Irish broadcaster RTE’s The Late Late Show if he was surprised by the response.
He said: “No, I don’t believe we were surprised, because you’re like, as you said, you’re on a talk show like this, and you’re kind of just talking.
“But I’m not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got, because it’s massively important and I’m sure you’ve had Saoirse on the show, like, she’s… quite often, more often than not, the most intelligent person in the room.
“But I think she… was spot on, hit the nail on the head, and it’s also good that … messages like that are kind of gaining traction, like that’s a conversation that we should absolutely be having on a daily basis.”
Thanks to that moment, Ronan was given a platform to explain why she spoke up.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on Virgin Radio UK, she addressed the response to the episode and said it ‘wasn’t something she expected’.
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.”
He agreed with the actress (243)
“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.
“So many men and women that I know from all over the world have gotten in touch with me about this one comment, which is, again, I would urge people, please, please, please to watch this in context.”
She then went on to defend Redmayne and Mescal, explaining: “Please watch the whole interview or watch at least that part of the conversation, because it really wasn’t about… the boys weren’t sort of like debunking anything that I was saying.
“But at the same time, it felt very similar to like when I am at dinner with a bunch of my friends and I will always make the point that, well, this is actually an experience that we go through every single day, 100%.”
Because she and Mescal worked together during the filming of the film, Foe last year, they’re good pals.
She shared: “Paul being one of my very dear friends, I’ve had conversations like that with him before and he completely gets that and completely understands that 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, which I think is amazing.
“It’s opening a conversation and again, hopefully it’s allowing more and more women to just be like, well, yeah, actually, let’s talk about our experience.”
Featured Image Credit: BBC
No matter how hard we try to disguise it, sometimes, our bodies do the talking for us.
We can communicate a lot of emotions without uttering a word, as our posture, facial expressions and movements often manage to make our feelings quite clear.
So as people continue to discuss how Saoirse Ronan shut down Paul Mescal’s joke on The Graham Norton Show with a simple sentence, why don’t we also take a look at what she could have been saying with her body language, too?
For those who don’t know, Denzel Washington and Eddie Redmayne were also on the red couch on Friday (25 October) and the latter explained how he had learned self-defence from a specialist combat expert in preparation for his starring role in his new series, The Day of the Jackal.
The Oscar winner went on to add that he was taught how he could use his mobile phone to protect himself in a scary scenario, which came as quite the shock to Mescal.
The Gladiator star said: “Who is actually going to think about that? If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go ‘phone’.”
Wood told LADbible that Graham Norton and his guests initially seemed amused by the gag – but they then all ‘froze’ when Ronan interjected and explained: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time.”
So, what was the Irish actress thinking when she decided to correct Mescal when he made the comment?
Body language expert Patti Wood revealed what she reckons the actress was really thinking (BBC)
The body language expert reckons that Ronan didn’t break a sweat when she opted to speak up, as she remained ‘laid back, downward and still’ throughout the exchange.
Wood told LADbible she believes there are ‘several layers’ to her motivations for doing this, saying: “It’s clear she’s heard the story before, and she’s thought what she said out loud before.
“Now she’s in a place where she’s ready and wants to say it, and she savours it.
“You see the look on her face? You’ll see there’s a lack of symmetry, that one side of her face is showing one expression, and the other side is showing another expression.
“And part of what she’s showing is sort of a judgment, and then part of it is playfulness.
“She’s sure of herself as she says this, and yet she’s having to hold back how upset she is and the anger she has about the fact that women have to defend themselves all the time.”
Ronan has been praised by fans for shutting down Mescal’s joke (BBC)
The expert added: “I think that’s another reason why she took this moment – to make basically the entire world that watches entertainment news go, ‘Oh, my God. These guys are joking, this actor is joking about defending himself.
“He’s making a joke about having to use your phone to defend yourself as, ‘Oh, how silly that is’.
“When, in reality, women are always thinking about it.”
Discussing why Ronan might have turned to the audience and said, ‘Am I right, ladies?’, Wood said she believes it was only to make her point even clearer to the men she was sat alongside.
“She was so confident in that delivery, so it wasn’t like she needed the validation,” the expert said. “She didn’t shout out her answer. She delivered it with conviction. So that’s all of those things made it stronger.
“Her nonverbal behaviour was more like, ‘I am sure that I’m right, and I’m going to allow women to be able to affirm that this is a situation that we have to deal with’.
“The validation was not for her, it was more to make her message stronger for all the men.”
But The Graham Norton Show is back on telly – what big Friday nights are made of. The absolute national treasure TV host has already had some big names so far on this new series, from Hugh Grant to Demi Moore and Colin Farrell.
And over the 32 seasons of his legendary show, Norton’s also had to do his share of perhaps not so great interviews, previously revealing the ‘worst’ celebrity he’s ever had on the sofa.
Slightly differently, he’s also revealed the star who just ‘wasn’t a great guest’.
A whole host of names have sat on Norton’s sofa. (BBC)
Chatting to news.com.au, Norton said that Daryl Hannah wasn’t a particularly effective guest as he suggested it was down to her being nervous.
It wasn’t down to ‘diva’ behaviour in the host’s opinion, as he reckons she had some anxiety surrounding her appearance on the show.
Norton explained he had been warned the Kill Bill actor wasn’t a fan of chat shows as he pointed out a rumour of her having fainted during another appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.
“So she did our show and, bless her, she wasn’t a great guest,” the celebrity interviewer explained.
But, in full support of her, Norton added: “But what I loved was, because she got through it, afterwards she was high as a kite. She really felt like she’d done an amazing thing. And I was thrilled for her that she had gotten through it. It was still a very poor show.’
It’s been quite some time since Hannah appeared on the sofa, as she was the sole guest of the first series of V Graham Norton back in 2002.
He reckons she was a little nervous. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
While previously chatting at an event in Dublin, Norton was reportedly asked about the worst guest he’d ever had on the show.
And it might not surprise you that it was a certain disgraced movie mogul.
The star explained: “I often talk around who my least favourite guest was, but now, someone reminded me, I have a really good answer to this now.
“It’s Harvey Weinstein. He’s in jail, so he gets the prize for the worst guest ever.”
Norton described how Weinstein fired over emails saying he wanted to be on the chat show, which was already fully booked.
“He e-mailed back: ‘What if I blah de blah de blah’. [I replied] ‘No, the show is fully booked, blah de blah’,” Norton continued.
At the time, he was ‘laughing’ at the email exchange but added: “You realise ‘Oh my God, that is an insight into how that man is.'”
LADbible has contacted Hannah’s reps for comment.
Featured Image Credit: BBC/Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Fans have been looking back on his best TV moments this week, as it would have been the Oscar- winning actor’s 73rd Birthday on Sunday (21 July).
Williams’ son Zachary, along with thousands of supporters, have issued heartbreaking tributes across social media.
Amid the messages though was a resurfaced clip of an old 2008 interview of The Graham Norton Show, when Williams savagely trolled a guest for his name. Watch below:
After almost everyone in the audience had their hands up, the BBC host picks a man named ‘Ewan’.
Whilst Ewan introduces himself, in a matter of seconds, Williams hilariously pokes fun at the man’s voice.
“His name is urine,” jokes Williams who then appears to put on a Scottish accent, “Ewan, nice to have you here,” he shouts.
Robin Williams was a guest on The Graham Norton Show back in 2008. (BBC)
“Don’t p**s off Ewan.”
Once Ewan gets his chance to do a Genie impression to the camera, it’s safe to say that the poor lad absolutely bottles it.
No pun intended.
“Think of a magic word,” advises Norton, as the audience member looks at the camera and replies: “Hi Graham.”
I mean, you’ve got to feel for him there.
As the rest of the audience bursts out laughing, Williams also let out a rare laugh.
Commenting on the clip on social media, one viewer said: “That ‘Hi, Graham’ must haunt him for the rest of his life.”
Meet Ewan. (BBC)
“I feel so sorry for Ewan. He was put on the spot and looked quite embarrassed. Also Robin Williams has just the cutest laugh!” added a second.
Others were just sad that Williams is no longer with us, with the actor having taken his own life back in 2014.
“I’m still in denial that he has passed. The first time I actually cried over a celebrity death… RIP,” one fan commented.
“Robin Williams mind was not only a national treasure for Americans but the entire world to enjoy,” someone else wrote.
“Without a doubt he was special and still remains special to anyone who enjoyed his movies. He had a very special gift making people genuinely laugh. The comedian has gone but the audience still applaud his genius.”
The Irish actor appeared on last night’s (2 February) Graham Norton Show, alongside Oscar nominees Sterling K. Brown and Colman Domingo, Dakota Johnson, and Paul Russell.
Norton brought up an anecdote of the moment Gleeson came ‘face to face’ with his ‘doppelgänger’.
The BBC host admitted that at first it seemed like an ‘overstatement’, but sitting across from the Harry Potter actor, he could ‘see it’.
Watch the moment Brown correctly guessed just who that doppelgänger is on his first attempt:
After being interrupted by laughter, he said: “You kinda remind me of Blanchett from the profile.”
And Gleeson leant back in defeat as he said: “Yeah it’s Cate Blanchett, fair enough.”
Brown was in shock as everyone quickly realised the bloke’s similarity to the Aussie star.
Norton added: “That’s amazing you got that. You do.”
Really putting the Irishman on the block, they showed a picture of the doppelgänger pair and to be fair, it’s pretty uncanny.
Shawn Goldberg/Getty Images
And it seems this has been dragged up to Gleeson quite a lot.
The star recalled the first play he did in the West End and how amazing it felt, before being brought back down to Earth.
“All my cast mates started calling me Cate because at that time I particularly really looked like her,” he said.
“And I’d be walking down the street and people would stop to tell me that I looked like Cate Blanchett which was upsetting as a young man trying to make your way into the world.
“You’re like ‘I’m on the West End’ and ‘Cate!’ like ‘f**k off’.”
BBC
Gleeson definitely sees the funny side though and seemed a little starstruck when he did eventually meet her.
He explained: “One day I was at the BAFTAs – because I’ve been to award ceremonies too, not because I’ve been nominated but you know, something I’ve been in has been nominated. And I suddenly bumped into her, there she was, it was Cate Blanchett.
“It was really kind of staggering.”
His fellow guests asked if she ‘felt the same way’ and joked if she gets Domhnall Gleeson.
“I was really, really proud of myself, I didn’t panic, and I didn’t say that people say I look like her,” he added.
Turns out the Irish star also gets compared to Tilda Swinton, but I’ll leave you to decide who the main doppelgänger is.