1996-present
Latest News: Paul Mescal Stars in Gladiator II
Paul Mescal’s physical transformation for the upcoming action sequel Gladiator II was so dramatic, his fight scenes earned him a striking nickname from co-star Pedro Pascal. “I call him Brick Wall Paul,” Pascal told Vanity Fair. “He got so strong. I would rather be thrown from a building than have to fight him again.”
Mescal, 28, plays warrior Lucius Verus in the movie, directed by Ridley Scott, that follows the 2000 original starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Much of the Irish actor’s training for the lead role revolved around its fight choreography. “I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage when s— hits the fan,” Mescal said.
Gladiator II releases in theaters on November 22.
Who Is Paul Mescal?
Irish actor Paul Mescal received an Academy Award nomination for the 2022 drama Aftersun and is known for his role in the limited series Normal People. A standout Gaelic football player in his youth, Mescal fully committed to acting after suffering multiple injuries in competition. He began as a stage performer before transitioning to movies and TV. Mescal stars as gladiator Lucius Verus in the upcoming sequel movie Gladiator II, due out November 22, 2024.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Paul Colm Michael Mescal
BORN: February 2, 1996
BIRTHPLACE: Maynooth, Ireland
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Family and Early Years
Paul Colm Michael Mescal was born on February 2, 1996, in Maynooth, Ireland. His surname, pronounced meh-skull, uses a soft “s,” though Paul has said people often misspeak due to confusion with the alcohol mezcal.
His mother, Dearbhla, worked for more than 30 years in An Garda Síochána, or Ireland’s national police service, before retiring in 2023. His father, Paul Sr., is a grade school teacher in Kildare, the Irish county where Maynooth is, and an actor.
The oldest of three siblings, Paul has a brother, Donnacha, and a sister, Nell. His sister is an indie-pop and folk musician known for her 2020 debut single “Crash,” with actor Jennifer Garner and singer James Bay among her most notable fans.
Paul attended Maynooth Post Primary School and had what he called a “pretty wonderfully normal” childhood. “I was good in school. I didn’t particularly like getting in trouble,” he told GQ. “I wasn’t particularly rebellious. I think I may have spoiled it for my younger siblings.”
That discipline served him well in athletics, as he became a promising Gaelic football player. Paul represented Kildare at the minor and U-21 levels of the rugged sport, a mix of soccer and rugby. However, its physicality took a toll on young Paul.
When he was 16, he broke his nose in a “fight-slash-sports” injury. A few years later, he broke his jaw two days before starting his final year of drama school and decided to give up the sport. “I was like, ‘Hey, this isn’t going to fly anymore,’” he said. Paul told his teachers he was mugged at work to hide the true nature of the injury. The actor says his nose is off-center and his jaw still clicks because of the incidents.
Movies and TV Shows
Mescal first caught the acting bug on the stage. He played the titular character in a school production of The Phantom of the Opera at age 16. “I remember the correlation between absolute fear and exhilaration in the space of two hours was like an adrenaline rush I had never experienced before,” he told British GQ. “I wanted to chase that feeling.” He subsequently applied and was accepted into The Lir Academy, the prestigious drama school at Trinity College Dublin.
The aspiring actor also found inspiration in Timothée Chalamet’s performance from the 2017 movie Call Me By Your Name. “He is on another level, and it just made we realize what a young actor, roughly the same age as me, could be capable of, the level I had to get up to,” Mescal said.
Mescal secured an agent prior to his 2017 graduation and was cast in the title role of a Gate Theatre production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in Dublin. He has also appeared in plays such as The Red Shoes (2017) and The Plough and the Stars (2018). More recently, Mescal starred as Stanley Kowalski in a limited run of the Tennessee Williams work A Streetcar Named Desire in London in 2023, for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor.
Despite his impressive stage work, Mescal’s big break came on the small screen in a popular British TV drama.
Star of Normal People
Mescal starred as Connell Waldron in the 2020 BBC and Hulu miniseries Normal People, based on the novel of the same name by Sally Rooney. The psychological romance, about the evolving friendship and relationship of two teenagers as they enter adulthood, also starred Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Casting director Louise Kiely cycled through “tons and tons of people” for the series’ two main characters, though Mescal was on the early list of favorites for Connell after his first audition. His chemistry with Edgar-Jones during a later screen test helped seal the part. “I think there was an understanding—and I don’t know where it came from—that me and Daisy would just fundamentally get on,” Mescal said.
Thanks to his believable connection with his co-star, Mescal received extensive recognition for the role, including an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Although he didn’t win the Emmy, he did take home the BAFTA TV Award for Leading Actor.
Movies: Aftersun and Gladiator II
Following the success of Normal People, Mescal made the leap to the big screen alongside bona fide movie stars. In 2021, he appeared in The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and featuring Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson.
The following year, Mescal starred in the musical Carmen and the dramas God’s Creatures and Aftersun. In the latter, he played an estranged father who reconnects with his 11-year-old daughter on vacation in Turkey. Called “astonishing and devastating” by The New York Times, Aftersun appeared on multiple year-end lists—including atop Sight and Sound’s 50 best films of 2022—and Mescal received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
The nomination was a welcome surprise for his family, who announced that same day that Dearbhla, Paul’s mother, was battling bone marrow cancer and preparing for chemotherapy treatment. “It’s all a bit overwhelming, especially for my family, because I don’t think anybody or even I was expecting [the nomination],” Mescal told BBC Radio. As of June 2024, Dearbhla is in remission.
Mescal followed the acclaimed role with 2023’s All of Us Strangers, starring alongside another rising Irish actor in Andrew Scott. He then appeared in Foe, a 2023 sci-fi thriller with Saoirse Ronan.
Up next for Mescal is the lead role in Gladiator II, a sequel to the 2000 epic directed by Ridley Scott. The actor underwent rigorous training including weightlifting, resistance training, and extensive fight choreography for the movie, which also stars Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington and releases in theaters November 22.
Mescal is also set to portray young William Shakespeare in a film adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell novel Hamnet, with an expected release in 2025. Elsewhere, he is confirmed to star in the World War I–era romantic drama The History of Sound with Josh O’Connor.
Dating and Personal Life
Mescal is believed to be dating singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, though neither has confirmed the romance publicly. The pair were spotted together in London in August 2024, with a source telling People their relationship is “still early stages.”
The actor previously dated musician Phoebe Bridgers, known for her solo work and the band boygenius, for more than two years. Mescal appeared in the music video for Bridgers’ 2020 song “Savior Complex.” (Also in 2020, Mescal starred in a music video for the Rolling Stones song “Scarlet.”)
In February 2023, Mescal told Vanity Fair he wants to keep his romantic life private going forward. “Giving strangers an answer about my life doesn’t actually help me,” he said. “It’s like a quick boost of serotonin, being like, ‘I’ve said what I need to say.’ And then it’s just Twitter fodder.”
Mescal now lives in London after moving to the city in 2020. He has been open about his mental health struggles, telling The Irish Times in March 2023 he suffers from mild depression. His role in Normal People ultimately inspired him to seek treatment. “I remember thinking: I’ve got to start looking after myself because I don’t feel that far away from what [my character] Connell was expressing sometimes,” he said.
Quotes
- I feel like the game that I’m playing now is a young person’s game. And I’m young, but I want to be able to do this all the time.
- The fun part of acting for me is doing the detective work and putting the stepping stones in place that make it possible to get into the heavier parts of a person’s psychology.
- If you want a progressive male, sad character, I’m your guy!
- You have to be practical and pragmatic as an actor, because it doesn’t matter how you’re feeling if you only have 20 minutes to shoot it. You’ve got to find a way.
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Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
