Saoirse Ronan Goes Viral for Her Reaction to Joke About Self-Defense: 'That's What Girls Have to Think About'

Saoirse Ronan is telling it like it is.

On Friday, Oct. 25, the actress, 30, appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside Paul Mescal,Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington, where she offered her perspective when it comes to violence against women after a joke about self-defense was made.

On the talk show, Redmayne, 42, spoke about the physical training he underwent for his role in the upcoming miniseries The Day of the Jackal, in which he plays an assassin. 

After he said that he was taught how to use his phone as a weapon if someone was attacking him, Mescal, 28, and host Graham Norton then began to joke around, saying they would not think of using their phone as such if they were in danger. 

"Who is actually going to think about that?" Mescal said while mimicking removing a phone out of his pants pocket. "If someone actually attacked me, I’m not going to go 'phone.' "

Norton, 61, then pointed to an imaginary attacker and said, "Can you hold on a second?" while pretending to remove his phone from his own.

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"That’s a very good point," Redmayne added, before Ronan chimed in, stating, "That’s what girls have to think about all the time."

The Little Women star then gestured towards the audience and asked, "Am I right, ladies?" which garnered a loud applause.

Representatives for Mescal and Redmayne did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. A rep for Norton declined to comment.

People on social media have since praised Ronan for her comment, which has gone viral, saying that she "gagged" the men on the talk show. 

“Saoirse Ronan is a queen. Men need a reminder what it’s like being a woman so they can appreciate their privilege. The silence after she said that speaks volumes,” wrote one person. 

“This encapsulates men being ignorant of male privilege in a nutshell,” shared another. “The fact that these guys – nice guys, mind – are just so unaware is almost terrifying. Thank goodness for Saoirse though because we all need a bit more attention drawn to this.”

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Ronan is currently preparing for the release of her upcoming movie Blitz. In it, she stars as a single mother named Rita who is living in London amid World War II with her 9-year-old son George.

According to a synopsis, the young boy "embarks on an adventure, only to find himself in immense peril, while a distraught Rita searches for her missing son."

The actress revealed in a recent interview with Vogue that she was drawn to the movie by its director Steven McQueen, who directed 12 Years a Slave.

"I’ve been saying to my agent for years, if someone like Steve McQueen asked me to meet him, or audition for him, please make sure that that happens," she told the outlet.

However, at the time, Ronan was hesitant to do "another war movie."

"As soon as [Steve] started to explain to me that it was going to follow this mother-son relationship and that we were staying back home with everyone else… I was completely hooked,” she said. 

Blitz is in theaters Nov. 1, then streams on Apple TV+ Nov. 22.