Published 20:03 29 Oct 2024 GMT
An expert in nonverbal communication has taken a closer look at Saoirse Ronan’s reaction
US 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?
body language expert Patti Wood has shared her thoughts on what the Lady Bird star was really thinking when the actor made that joke on the BBC show.
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.”
