Paul Mescal has opened up about his meteoric rise to fame following the release of Normal People in 2020.
Paul shot to fame as Connell Waldron on the series adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel, becoming an overnight sensation during the first COVID-19 lockdown, and taking on several high profile roles — including being nominated for an Oscar in Aftersun.
Despite saying that the role in Normal People was indeed ‘life changing,’ Paul admitted that being in the public eye was uncomfortable — with the Maynooth man saying a byproduct of fame was being followed everywhere by paparazzi.
As a result, he ended up getting rid of his social media accounts and moving out of London.
Having to adjust to being in the limelight was something that Paul admitted needing ‘a specific skillset’ that you don’t learn beforehand — but added that, despite the COVID-19 lockdown shutting down the world, he was able to adjust to the spotlight as a result of being away from people.
‘Whether I’m right or wrong, I won’t fully know that until four or five months down the line,’ Paul said when asked about his role in Gladiator II and if it would bring more scrutiny. ‘I think, as awful as Covid was, now that I look back on it, I was like “thank God I was away from people” because, if I’m struggling with this junction now, having had that experience, I don’t know what that would have been like at that moment. It’s a specific skillset that you don’t learn.’
‘I didn’t learn it by proximity to this industry growing up,’ he told the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast. ‘I didn’t grow up in New York, LA or London. I didn’t know I wanted to be an actor, it wasn’t on the radar, so there was no part of me with a desire to be out in the world.’
‘But you’re smart enough to realise that’s the gig. You get out in front of the movie and you do your job, there’s a certain tax with it.’
Paul’s most recent role was as Lucius, son of Maximus, in the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Roman epic — with him recently revealing that an injury he suffered in secondary school may have been the reason for him getting cast in Gladiator II.
Paul broke his nose while playing GAA in school, telling W magazine ‘the nose that caused me great concern in secondary school’ — but added that it may have reminded Scott of the late Richard Harris — who played Paul’s grandfather in the first Gladiator.
Asked by the interviewer if classmates knew his nose would end up on cinema screens one day, Mescal joked: ‘They didn’t know it was going to be the reason that Ridley Scott cast me in Gladiator II.’