Saoirse, Spurgeon and soundbites

How often do you hear the conversation happening around you, and wish that you could think of the perfect riposte? Not spiteful or cutting, not designed to trip the other person up, but to have the words to make your point in a way that feels modest yet memorable. 

Towards the end of October, the Irish-American actress Saoirse Ronan appeared on the BBC’s Graham Norton show, on the sofa alongside fellow actors Eddie Redmayne, Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, each promoting various new projects.  So far, so Friday night chat-show – some good-natured banter between colleagues and friends.  Conversation turned to training for the preparation Redmayne had been taken through for his recently released remake of The Day of the Jackal, including being taught how to use his phone as a weapon if he was attacked.

The three male actors and male host enjoyed the joke of this idea immensely. Their laughter initially drowns out Ronan’s attempt to speak, but then she manages to slip in a line that has since gone viral: ‘That’s what girls have to think about all the time’.  As her point lands - with her friends and the show host – the silence it brings with it seems to stretch, providing a sort of natural full stop. She addresses the audience ‘Am I right ladies?’ to applause.