If you watched Netflix’s The Lost Daughter, you probably recognize Paul Mescal (who played Will). In addition to the popular movie, the 26-year-old actor has also starred in Normal People, Aftersun, God’s Creatures and Carmen. As he continues to make a name for himself, we did some digging to find out more about him.
Keep reading for six facts about Paul Mescal.
Just like his Normal People alter ego Connell, Mescal attended Trinity College. The only difference? In Mescal’s case, his focus was drama. In fact, he studied at The Lir Academy, which is Trinity’s in-house drama school. (It’s also associated with London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.) During his time there, he starred in productions ranging from Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare to Children of the Sun by Maxim Gorky, according to his Lir Academy student profile. He’s also trained in stage combat, not to mention a variety of accents including New York, General American and Southern United States.
Yep, in addition to acting, Mescal was actually a pretty promising Gaelic football player, competing at the under-21 level for his county team, Kildare G.A.A. But when he suffered a broken jaw during a match at Trinity, he gave it up, explaining to Vogue that that was the moment when he realized acting and sports “don’t coexist, unfortunately.”
Mescal recently deleted his social media accounts, but they used to feature his immense range of talents—singing and piano playing included. (His cover of Lady Gaga’s A Star Is Born tune gave us chills.)
Post-college and pre-Normal People, Mescal had quite a reputation as a darling of the Ireland stage. He played Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, roles that garnered him rave reviews.
#TBT to that time Mescal appeared in an advertisement for Denny sausage. Hey, we all gotta start somewhere, right?
He previously revealed on the I’m Grand Mam podcast that he’s sworn off dating apps—but he’d definitely like to be married if quarantine ever happens again. “I think we’re at the point where I want to get married and settle down,” he said. “But you know that kind of hysterical thing where if lockdown ever happens again, I’m making sure that I’m married. But yeah, I’m looking forward to dating!”
