Paul Mescal

Before his successful acting career, Paul Mescal was born in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland, and was a minor and under-21 Gaelic football player for Kildare. After giving up the sport due to a jaw injury, the Great Gatsby star sparked an interest in theater, landing the lead role in the musical Phantom of the Opera at the age of 16. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Acting from Trinity College Dublin in 2017.

That same year, the A Streetcar Named Desire actor began his professional acting career by starring in The Great Gatsby at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. In 2018, Mescal made his London stage debut in the Plough and the Stars. After many years on stage, the Ireland native appeared in his first television role in Hulu’s drama miniseries Normal People in 2020. His performance earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

The BAFTA winner made his feature film debut as a supporting role in 2021’s The Lost Daughter. The following year, Mescal starred as a troubled father in Aftersun and a man accused of sexual assault in God’s Creatures, the latter of which earned him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The Carmen star also appears in Foe, an adaptation of the novel by Iain Reid, and in Strangers, an adaption of Taichi Yamada’s novel.

The Normal People alum has been in a relationship with singer Phoebe Bridgers since 2020. The couple attended their first event together in November 2021.