The man at the center of Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal‘s viral TV moment regarding women’s safety has spoken out about the pair’s exchange and claimed that the reaction to it was ‘a bit overblown.’

Back in October, Ronan and Mescal appeared on BBC program The Graham Norton Show alongside Gladiator II star Denzel Washington and Day Of The Jackal actor Eddie Redmayne.

During the show, Redmayne, 42, opened up about preparing for the role of The Jackal with espionage advisor Paul Biddiss and revealed that he had received instruction on how to use a phone to retaliate in the event of an attack.

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.’

A viral TV moment occurred in October when Denzel Washington, Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Eddie Redmayne were on The Graham Norton Show
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A viral TV moment occurred in October when Denzel Washington, Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Eddie Redmayne were on The Graham Norton Show

Paul Mescal was criticized after mocking the idea of having to use your phone to protect yourself during a physical attack
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Saoirse reminded Paul and the other men on the show: 'That's what girls have to think about all the time'
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Saoirse reminded Paul and the other men on the show: ‘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 sparked backlash.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Biddiss was asked about the powerful TV moment and commented: ‘I’ve always said that women are notoriously more surveillance aware and harder to track, because unfortunately they have to be.

‘They have to think about what they have to use in the event of someone pouncing on them. What Saoirse Ronan said was correct,’ the British veteran continued.

According to the publication, Biddiss ‘welcomed the conversation sparked by Ronan,’ but also said that he thought ‘the banter got a bit overblown by the media’ in regard to Mescal and Redmayne.

Days after The Graham Norton Show moment, Normal People star Mescal shared his thoughts on Ronan’s comments after being asked during an appearance on Irish broadcaster RTE’s The Late Late Show and if he was surprised by the reception.

He responded: ‘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.

Espionage advisor Paul Biddiss trained actor Eddie for his role in The Day of the Jackal and shared various self-defense techniques with him
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Espionage advisor Paul Biddiss trained actor Eddie for his role in The Day of the Jackal and shared various self-defense techniques with him

Paul, pictured here on November 13, has worked with both Paul and Eddie and said 'the banter' between them 'got a bit overblown by the media'
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Paul, pictured here on November 13, has worked with both Paul and Eddie and said ‘the banter’ between them ‘got a bit overblown by the media’

‘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,’ Mescal added.

The actress, who has received four Academy Award nominations for her acting work in Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women, called the reaction to her comments ‘wild.’

She told The Ryan Tubridy Show on Virgin Radio UK: ‘It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash.

‘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 added the men on the show ‘weren’t debunking anything that I was saying,’ and explained Mescal ‘completely gets’ the issue as they have talked about it before.