Body language expert analyses Graham Norton guests' reactions when Saoirse Ronan shut down Paul Mescal

Paul Mescal has probably started the week off kicking himself after cracking that joke on The Graham Norton Show.

Irish actor Saoirse Ronan quickly swooped in to remind the 28-year-old star that although he might not reach for his phone while defending himself from a physical attack, not everyone has the same luxury.

Take a look at her mic-drop moment here:

I'm sure Ronan didn't set out to stun the likes of Mescal, Denzel Washington and Eddie Redmayne into silence when she sat down on the BBC talk show on Friday (25 October), but she certainly deserves some applause for challenging the couch full of Hollywood stars completely off the cuff.

Ronan - who has had a string of major movie roles over the years, including The Lovely Bones, Hanna, Brooklyn and Little Women - has been receiving praise for how she handled the situation, as she stopped Mescal in his tracks as he joked about the idea of fumbling for a mobile phone if he felt under threat from an attacker.

"That’s what girls have to think about all the time," the 30-year-old said, before adding: "Am I right, ladies?"

Viewers were left squirming in their seats as they watched Graham Norton's guests react to Ronan's retort, and I'm sure we could all have a good guess as to what was running through their minds at the time.

But thankfully, a renowned body language expert from the US has saved us the job, as Patti Wood has offered up her opinion on what impact Ronan's spirited words had on her fellow celebs.

She specialises in non-verbal communication and can pick up on minor movements or mannerisms which a person displays that can reveal a lot about what they are really feeling.

Speaking to LADbible, Wood explained that there appeared to be a 'very interesting' shift in everyone's body language before, during and after Mescal delivered his joke after she analysed the footage.

The body language expert reckons Paul Mescal was 'shielding' himself after Saoirse Ronan shut down his joke (BBC)

She reckons that initially, everyone apart from Ronan looked quite entertained by the wisecrack and notes that they were all displaying 'animated' behaviour.

Ronan, on the other hand, remained 'laid back, downward and still', creating quite the contrast between her and the other guests - who promptly reined themselves in when Ronan called out Mescal's comment.

Wood complimented Ronan's 'confident' and 'deliberate' delivery while challenging Mescal, saying she perfectly put across her frustration about the fact that women have to think up about what they would do to protect themselves in scary scenarios like a potential assault.

So, the expert says it's no wonder the men were not just silenced, but also somewhat paralysed by Ronan's comeback.

"People are talking about how they go silent as she makes the statement, but what's non verbal and also interesting is, the men all freeze in place," Wood told LADbible.

"There's just a moment of both silence and frozen behaviour on their part.

"What's happened is, they've been shocked. They're on Graham Norton, this playful, wonderful show, and she's just changed everything. What the heck are we going to do now?

"So they all freeze in place, because they've gone from being playful about the situation to her very serious statement."

According to the body language expert, Ronan sought the opinion of the women in the audience to 'make her message stronger', showing the blokes that she wasn't alone in feeling this way.

The actor has received praise for how she handled the situation on The Graham Norton Show (BBC)

Wood reckons Mescal got the message that he had put his foot in it pretty quickly though, as she pointed out that he seemed to 'lean away' from Ronan before she had begun to correct him.

Taking a closer look at the Normal People star's reaction, Wood said that she noticed the actor shuffle in his seat while moving his hands to 'shield' himself.

"He's taken his left hand and he's crossed an arm over the front of his body," Wood went on. "That's a shield movement, it's under the category of what I call a 'comfort cue'.

"He goes all the way up, and he touches the side of his face and his ear, which symbolically says, 'I'm blocking myself from what I just heard'.

"See how he scooched his body and leaned away from her?"

Wood believes that Ronan has got quite the interesting expression throughout all of this too, as she's displaying both 'a sort of judgement' and also '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," the expert added.

There you have it - that's what was apparently being communicated non-verbally throughout this bombshell chat.