Along with the likes of Timothée Chalamet and Tom Holland, Paul Mescal is perhaps the prototypical Internet Boyfriend. Women and men the world over fell in love with this next generation of lovable leading men for a perceived sensibility that flew in the face of tired masculine narratives that elevated the careers of previous sex symbols. The ‘thinking woman’s heartthrob’, Mescal possessed a cerebral appeal, rising to prominence for portraying emotionally complex characters, like Connell from Sally Rooney’s Normal People and Calum in the indie hit Aftersun. (The latter earned Paul his first Oscar nomination. First, for now, that is.) However, Mescal also has a particularly formidable combination of both sensitivity and jock-like capabilities. A rugby fan and former player of Gaellic football, Mescal walks a line of both stereotypically male and female fantasy. Not only does he own a pair of rugby shorts, he looks damn good in them while running errands and (probably) making you a cup of tea in bed.
In fact, it could be these ‘softboi’ credentials that make Mescal, at least in part, a perfect fit for the ‘next-gen’ Gladiator. (Perhaps this was something the casting directors considered when they cast not just Mescal, but two other Internet Boyfriends—Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn—in the Gladiator sequel.) Mescal is in Sydney promoting Gladiator II, his first crossover into the action genre. Directed by Ridley Scott, the big-screen epic follows Lucius (Mescal) as he works his way through the gladiatorial arena and into the politics of the Roman Empire. The film feels like a departure for Mescal, whom we’ve not quite seen—nor really imagined—express the brute rage this part demands.
Speaking to Paul and his Gladiator II co-star, Fred Hechinger (of The White Lotus fame), I ask Mescal to reflect on the road that led to the latest step in his career.
“When I think back to Normal People, and I’m sure it’s the same for you [Hechinger] with White Lotus, it feels both like yesterday and also like a long time ago,” he says. “And you kind of just get on this train of going to work and hopefully making things that you’re proud of.” It has indeed been a busy five years for Mescal, who adds that he “hasn’t really had the time to reflect”.
Since his Normal People breakthrough in 2020, Mescal has continued to roll out (often multiple) fresh works each year. In 2021, he followed up with The Lost Daughter, a film with fresh Academy Award winner Olivia Coleman. The year after, he made three feature films: God’s Creatures, Aftersun, and Carmen. Last year, he put two further films to his name with Foe, opposite Saoirse Ronan, and All Of Us Strangers, as the lover of Fleabag‘s ‘hot priest’, Andrew Scott. This year is, arguably, slow with just one film release.
Perhaps it’s his media diplomacy in practice, but when asked for a career highlight, Paul doesn’t play favourites with his “children”. “It always surprises me when a film ever gets made. Each film, this [Gladiator II] included, they all feel like what I imagine it must feel like to be a parent. They all feel like individual children.”
One of Gladiator II‘s key themes is the notion of destiny—a concept that could either be very easy or very hard to wrestle when you’re one of the most successful actors of a generation. When I ask if destiny is something he believes in, Mescal says: “I think I do believe in it. In a way that I don’t really know why I believe in it, beyond the fact that as long as it doesn’t take you out of the present tense. You know, being active in your own life, and waiting for this passive thing to happen to you. But I think there’s stuff that’s happened in my life that I can’t really explain past that it was maybe meant to be. Or maybe not meant to be in some instances.”
Although we’re left wondering what those things are exactly for Paul, at this point in his life, the Gods are working in his favour.
Gladiator II is in cinemas on November 14.
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Read the original article in ELLE Australia.
