Saoirse Ronan addresses her now-viral comments on violence against women

Saoirse Ronan is reacting to the viral response to her comments on how often women have to think of the threat of physical violence.

The actor previously spoke out in October while appearing on "The Graham Norton Show" alongside Paul Mescal, Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington.

Redmayne was sharing what he learned during physical training for an upcoming series, and after Mescal and Norton made jokes about using a phone to protect themselves during an altercation, Ronan reminded the actors how often women prepare for the possibility of physical violence.

“That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right, ladies?” Ronan asked, cutting laughter from Redmayne, Norton and others abruptly short.

The moment went viral on social media, as some users emphasized not only with Ronan's point, but the reaction from her fellow actors and the audience.

Ronan spoke about her comments on TODAY Nov. 7, saying that she thought it was important that the moment should be kept in context with the larger interview, in which the actors discussed the prep work needed to do certain jobs.

She then went into detail on what surprised her about the viral response to her words.

"I guess what was really interesting about the response — that I totally was not expecting — is that this is the kind of conversation that I would have with my female and male friends, and we make points like this all the time," she said.

Ronan referenced the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in the U.K. in 2021. Everard was a marketing executive who disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in London. A week later, Everard's body was found about 50 miles away in a wooded area in Kent.

British police officer Wayne Couzens pleaded guilty to charges of kidnap, rape and murder in Everard's case, and was sentenced to life in prison with no parole in 2021.

Prosecutors said Couzens used his position as a police officer to place Everard under false arrest, before driving her in a rental car to a secluded area, where he raped and murdered her, before burning her body and clothing.

Ronan reflected on the tragedy, saying, "She followed all the rules, and she did everything that she was supposed to do to keep herself safe, and she still ended up dead. And I think that that really opened up this conversation for everyone back at home."

The actor said that since Everard's murder, she's been more vocal in her personal life, with both women and men.

"So it was just sort of something that naturally came up on the show, but it's been really interesting to see what the response has been like," she said. "It's just sort of gone everywhere.

"I think people have needed something like this, on a platform like that, to go, OK, we can talk about it now, and just to talk about that," she continued. "And of course, it's not something that guys would have to think about, but I think it's really important for us, for all of our little young girls that are growing up, that we go like, 'This is the this is the mentality that a woman has to have, and that a young girl has to have every day ever.'"

Reps for Redmayne, Mescal and Washington did not respond to a request for comment from TODAY.com last month.

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