Paul Mescal

Paul Mescal (born 2 February 1996) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his starring role in the miniseries Normal People (2020), which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Paul Mescal
Born (1996-02-02) 2 February 1996
Maynooth, Leinster, Ireland
EducationThe Lir Academy
OccupationActor
Years active2017–present

Early life and education

Mescal was born on 2 February 1996 in Maynooth, Leinster to Dearbhla, a Garda, and Paul, a schoolteacher who also acted semi-professionally.[1][2] He has a brother and a sister.[3] He was a minor and under-21 Gaelic footballer for Kildare and a member of the Maynooth club.[4][5] Former Gaelic footballer Brian Lacey praised his skills as a defender,[6] while his former manager Brendan Hackett said he could match Glenn Ryan and physical trainer Cian O'Neill described him as "mature beyond his years [...] very developed and very strong".[7] He gave up the sport after a jaw injury.[8] Mescal graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from The Lir Academy at Trinity College Dublin in 2017.[5][9]

Career

Upon graduating from drama school, Mescal was offered roles in two theatre productions, Angela's Ashes and The Great Gatsby; he took on the latter and starred as the titular Jay Gatsby at the Gate Theatre in Dublin.[10] He also played the Prince in a contemporary retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes at the same theatre that year.[11] In 2018, he landed the role of Lieutenant Langon in productions of The Plough and the Stars at the Lyric Theatre in London and the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.[12] Mescal also played Bryan in the world premiere of the 2018 play Asking for It by Louise O'Neill.[13] He appeared in the Rough Magic Theatre Company's productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man for the Kilkenny Arts Festival and the Dublin Theatre Festival, respectively.[14] Mescal also appeared in a commercial for Denny sausages that same year.[15] In 2020, he starred in a production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Gaiety Theatre.[16]

Mescal starred in his first television role alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in the drama series Normal People, an adaptation of the 2018 novel of the same name by Sally Rooney.[17] It premiered in the UK on BBC Three on 26 April 2020, and in the US on Hulu three days later.[18][19] He garnered acclaim as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance.[20][21] In July 2020, Mescal performed spoken word and sang with Dermot Kennedy at the London Natural History Museum.[22] He also appeared in Drifting, a short film, which premiered at the 2020 Galway Film Fleadh.[23] Mescal starred in the Channel 5 miniseries The Deceived as well as the music video for the song "Scarlet" by The Rolling Stones the following month.[24][25] He appeared in a virtual stage reading of the play This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan as part of a series to benefit the Actors Fund of America in October.[26] In December, he starred in Phoebe Bridgers' music video for the song "Savior Complex", which was directed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.[27]

Mescal will make his feature film debut in The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal in her directorial debut.[28] He is also set to star in Carmen, a "modern-day reimagining" of the opera of the same name.[29]

Personal life

Mescal resides in London.[30] He plays the piano.[8]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 Happyish Short film [31]
2020 Drifting Cian Short film [23]
TBA The Lost Daughter Will Post-production [28]
TBA Carmen Aidan Filming [29]

Television
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2019 Bump Matt Leary [32]
2020 Normal People Connell Waldron Miniseries [18]
2020 The Deceived Sean McKeogh Miniseries [24]

Music videos
Year Title Artist(s) Ref.
2020 "Scarlet" The Rolling Stones [25]
2020 "Savior Complex" Phoebe Bridgers [27]

Stage
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2017 The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby Gate Theatre, Dublin [10]
2017–2018 The Red Shoes Prince Gate Theatre, Dublin [11]
2018 The Plough and the Stars Lieutenant Langon Lyric Theatre, London; Gaiety Theatre, Dublin [12]
2018 Asking for It Bryan Abbey Theatre, Dublin [13]
2018 A Midsummer Night's Dream Demetrius Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny Arts Festival [14]
2018 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Stephen Dedalus Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire; Dublin Theatre Festival [14]
2020 The Lieutenant of Inishmore Mad Padraic Gaiety Theatre, Dublin [16]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2020 TV Choice Awards Best Actor Normal People Nominated [33]
Dorian Awards Best TV Performance – Actor Normal People Nominated [34]
Gold Derby TV Awards Breakthrough Performer of the Year Normal People Won [35]
Gold Derby TV Awards Limited/Movie Actor Normal People Won [35]
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Normal People Nominated [21]
GQ Men of the Year Awards Hugo Boss Breakthrough Actor N/A Won [36]
Digital Spy TV Reader Awards Rising Star Normal People Won [37]
2021 Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries Normal People Pending [38]

References
  1. "Paul Mescal: Age, Height & Dating Details Of 'Normal People' Actor". Capital FM. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  2. Armstrong, Maggie (11 January 2020). "Readers' expectations are the 'biggest source of anxiety' – Paul Mescal on tackling role of Connell in Normal People". Irish Independent. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  3. Glasgow, Abigail (29 April 2020). "'Normal People' Star Paul Mescal Showed His Parents the Sex Scenes". Paper. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  4. Ward, Patrick (16 December 2017). "From Kildare football star to Irish theatre star – Mescal revelling on a new stage". Kildare Now. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  5. Regan, Jarlath (25 April 2020). "Paul Mescal". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast). SoundCloud. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  6. Lawlor, Damian (28 July 2017). "Lacey backs Kildare to prosper without one that got away". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  7. Keane, Paul (14 May 2020). "Former Kildare boss Cian O'Neill got a glimpse of Paul Mescal's acting talent". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  8. Fitch Little, Harriet (16 March 2020). "Meet the Charismatic Stars of the Highly-Anticipated Normal People Adaptation". Vogue. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  9. "Acting Profiles / Alumni 2017: Paul Mescal". The Lir Academy. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  10. Green, Alex (6 August 2020). "Paul Mescal: From TV debut to Rolling Stones music video in less than a year". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  11. Sweeney, Tanya (15 December 2017). "'It was tough... but I've stepped into a time in Irish theatre that's really alive'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. Moran, Tom (4 March 2018). "Paul Mescal Plays Personality Bingo". Headstuff (Podcast). Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  13. Cummins, Steve (17 November 2018). "Review: Asking For It at Abbey Theatre, Dublin". The Times. Retrieved 28 August 2020. Paul Mescal delivers a standout performance as Bryan, Emma's sympathetic brother.
  14. Crawley, Peter (4 August 2019). "It's a kind of magic: electric midsummer night's dreams in Kilkenny Castle". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  15. Baxter-Wright, Dusty (11 May 2020). "Normal People's Connell was once in a sausage advert". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  16. Charleton, Fiona (9 February 2020). "Theatre review: The Lieutenant of Inishmore". The Times. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  17. Mangan, Lucy (26 April 2020). "Normal People review – Sally Rooney's love story is a small-screen triumph". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  18. Goldsbrough, Susannah (22 April 2020). "Normal People, first-look review: a riveting romance for the millennial age". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 August 2020. Normal People arrives as a boxset on BBC Three on April 26.
  19. Holmes, Linda (29 April 2020). "Review: 'Normal People' Skillfully Adapts Sally Rooney's Novel". NPR. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  20. Garner, Dwight; Poniewozik, James; Sehgal, Parul; Szalai, Jennifer (15 May 2020). "Bringing 'Normal People' to Sexy, Soundtracked Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  21. Villarreal, Yvonne (28 July 2020). "Emmys 2020: Paul Mescal of 'Normal People' on his nomination". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. Hodgkinson, Will (31 July 2020). "Dermot Kennedy and Paul Mescal review — an atmospheric and imaginative livestream show". The Times. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  23. "Granard film to feature in Galway Film Fleadh". The Anglo-Celt. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  24. Carr, Flora (4 August 2020). "The Deceived's creators: 'There was a buzz about Paul Mescal – but no one predicted this'". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  25. Greene, Andy (6 August 2020). "Watch the New Rolling Stones Video 'Scarlet,' Starring Paul Mescal". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  26. Evans, Greg (7 October 2020). "Morgan Freeman, Laurie Metcalf, Ellen Burstyn, Laura Linney, Matthew Broderick Among All-Star Lineup For Virtual Broadway Play Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  27. Savage, Mark (1 December 2020). "Paul Mescal stars in Phoebe Bridgers' music video for Savior Complex". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  28. Galuppo, Mia (28 August 2020). "'Normal People' Breakout Paul Mescal Joins Maggie Gyllenhaal Directorial Debut 'The Lost Daughter' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  29. Keslassy, Elsa (11 November 2020). "'Normal People' Star Paul Mescal Joins Melissa Barrera in Benjamin Millepied's 'Carmen' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  30. Kaufman, Amy (7 July 2020). "'Normal People' stars can't wait until they can go out for a beer and dance together". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  31. "Paul Mescal". Rough Magic Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  32. "Paul Mescal". Curtis Brown Group Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  33. Carr, Flora (7 July 2020). "TV Choice Awards nominations revealed – Normal People leads the pack". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  34. Beresford, Trilby (30 June 2020). "'Schitt's Creek' Leads Dorian TV Award Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  35. Montgomery, Daniel; Beachum, Chris; Dixon, Marcus James; Eng, Joyce; Laws, Zach; Sheehan, Paul (16 September 2020). "2020 Gold Derby TV Awards winners: 'Schitt's' sweeps, 'Succession' succeeds, Reese Witherspoon rules and much more". Gold Derby. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  36. "GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2020 winners: from Paul Mescal to Captain Sir Tom Moore". GQ. 26 November 2020. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  37. Robinson, Abby (26 December 2020). "Killing Eve is the big winner at Digital Spy Reader Awards 2020". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  38. Schneider, Michael (18 January 2021). "'Ozark,' 'The Crown' and Netflix Lead 26th Annual Critics' Choice Awards TV Nominations". Variety. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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