At 28 years old, Paul Mescal is one of the new darlings of world cinema. Revealed by his role as Connell Waldron in the series Normal Peoplehe experienced a meteoric rise. Since then, the Irish actor, as charismatic as he is discreet, has had a string of ambitious projects and directors are chasing him. But who is really the new Gladiator ?
Paul Mescal, pure Irishman
Born in 1996, Paul Mescal is the son of Dearbhla, policewoman, and Paul, a teacher. He is the eldest of three children: he has a little brother, Donnacha, and a little sister, Nell (who became a singer). And as a good Irishman, his favorite sport is neither football nor rugby but… gaelic footballa perfect blend of the two. His position? Defender. He played the sport for his home town of Maynooth and his county, Kildare. And even at university. He ended up giving it up after fracturing his jaw “two days before starting my last year of theater studies”he told Seth Meyers. And he had to lie to his teachers, because playing a sport was forbidden for students. He made them believe that he had been the victim of an attack…
Paul started in an ad
His first role on the small screen was in 2018 in an ad for Denny sausages (an Irish charcuterie brand). When he landed the role, he had just finished college. “I loved it but I was poor. My agent said, 'I don't know how you're going to handle this, but we have a sausage commercial you can make.' I said, No problem .I have to pay my rent.”he told BBC Radio 4.
The revelation of Normal People
He became known thanks to the mini-series Normal Peoplean adaptation of Sally Rooney's best-selling book of the same name. We follow the (complicated) story of Connell and Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones), from their high school years to their university studies. Like Connell, whom he plays, Paul Mescal studied at Trinity College, Dublin. Connell always wears a silver chain around his neck… which got its own Instagram account. It has more than 131,000 followers but has not been updated since June 2021. Paul gave it to Daisy at the end of filming.
Paul Mescal has criticism in his pocket
In 2022, his role as a somewhat lost dad in the film After sunby Charlotte Wells, earned him a chorus of praise. And allowed him to get his first Oscar nomination in the best actor category. His opponents were Brendan Fraser (winner), Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy and Austin Butler.
A physique that makes the difference
Timothée Chalamet, Miles Teller, Austin Butler and even Richard Madden were approached at one time or another to play Lucius in Gladiator IIby Ridley Scott. If the director fell for Paul Mescal after seeing him in Normal Peoplewhat made the difference was his performance in the play A Streetcar Named Desire which he played in London at the beginning of 2023. The interpreter of Stanley reveals his muscular torso, “and each time, the atmosphere was electrictold Daria Cercek, vice president of Paramount Studios at Variety. The women in the audience were very excited, and we were like, 'I think we found our man.'
Paul Mescal, this very discreet seducer
Paul is rather discreet about his private life, “I learned that there are certain lines that should not be crossed for the sake of my own mental healthhe confided to GQ. Speculation has been pretty wild in recent years. I don't feel comfortable giving access to this part of my life. (…) This is not mandatory information for the public.” We still know that he dated American singer Phoebe Bridgers for two years, from whom he separated at the end of 2022. He had coffee (and just coffee) with Angelina Jolie. He was also said to be very close to the actress Florence Pugh, who is just a friend. Since June 2024, the Irish actor has not left the American singer Gracie Abrams.
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