CINEMA – Remember his name, you have not finished hearing it. At just 26 years old, Irish actor Paul Mescal is Hollywood and the internet’s newest sensation. as shown in the video at the top of the article. Less than three years after the series aired Normal People who made him known, he is Oscar nominee 2023 for the best actor award for his role in aftersunin theaters this Wednesday, February 1.
Some are already comparing his dazzling success to that of a young Leonardo DiCapriowhen others see in Paul Mescal a new Timothée Chalametbecause he too embodies this new generation of actors who are redefining the masculinity on screen and on red carpets. But if on screen, the Irishman is vulnerable, in life, he remains rather behind the spotlight.
Who is Paul Mescal, the actor who is rising, and whose trajectory is not about to stop?
He became known in Normal People
In April 2020, in full confinement, the world discovers Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones in the series adaptation of Normal People, the best-selling novel by writer Sally Rooney. Their performance as Connell and Marianne is critically acclaimed. The series is still available on France.tv until March 15.
Paul Mescal shows a sensitivity too rarely seen in men on screen and interprets Connell’s depression with accuracy. The scene where he goes to see a psychologist after the suicide of one of his friends makes an impression. His performance in the series earned him the BAFTA for best actor in 2021.
In aftersun, he plays a father suffering from depression
After a supporting role in his first feature film, The Lost Daughter in 2022, Paul Mescal is now on the bill ofaftersun, which is released this Wednesday, February 1 in France. In this Charlotte Wells film, he plays Calum, a young divorced father who takes his eleven-year-old daughter on vacation to Turkey.
The story is told in the form of memories and interspersed with videos filmed with a camcorder by the child. The spectator ends up understanding, like his daughter, that Calum suffers from depression. Through his roles as in his interviews, Paul Mescal speaks openly about mental health. The actor also left Instagram in 2021, when his notoriety exploded.
With his role in aftersunhe won a prestigious nomination for the 2023 Oscars in the category of best actor, alongside Colin Farrell or Austin Butler.
He was chosen by Ridley Scott for the sequel to Gladiator
Whether or not he wins an Oscar on March 12, Paul Mescal’s career will inevitably take a new turn: he is to succeed Russell Crowe in the next Gladiator by Ridley Scott. Neither the actor nor the director confirmed the news, but the specialized American press announced that he had been chosen among names like Timothée Chalametby Austin Butler, Miles Teller or Richard Madden,
The film, whose filming should begin in May 2023, will be the opportunity to see Paul Mescal in a role completely opposite to that of Connell. He had already played a darker and more violent character in God’s Creature, presented at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
His relationship with Phoebe Bridgers was highly publicized
Since the success of Normal People, the private life of the actor is scrutinized from all sides. In 2020, after an exchange of tweets and an interview via a live Instagram, the world saw the birth of his love affair with the American singer Phoebe Bridgers.
He starred in his music video for the song Savior Complex and the couple made their relationship official at the end of 2021. At last Met Gala, Paul Mescal and Phoebe Bridgers posed together on the red carpet and were even rumored to be engaged. But since the end of 2022, articles and tweets saying they are separated have multiplied.
He is also a music lover
In his spare time, the actor is also a musician: he can sing and play the piano. In July 2020 he joined Irish singer Dermot Kennedy at the Natural History Museum in London for a TV duet. His fans will soon be able to hear him sing — and even see him dance — in choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s first feature film, Carmenwhose release date has not yet been announced.
In the meantime, the actor has already demonstrated his musical talents by accompanying his little sister, Nell Mescal, whose singing career is taking off. Proof that at the Mescal, talent runs in the veins.
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Who is Paul Mescal, the star of the Oscar-nominated film “Aftersun”