Paul Mescal, the Irishman who was nominated for an Oscar for best actor with only 3 films in his career

Unlike actors like Pedro Pascal and Samuel L. Jackson, who broke into the film industry relatively late in their careers, Paul Mescal already has an Oscar nomination in the Best Leading Actor category for his role. in son. The 27-year-old Mescal starred in just three films and two television series before being nominated by the Academy, which awarded the Best Actor Oscar to Brendan Fraser on March 12.

The Irish-born actor was not always interested in acting. His first love was Gaelic football, a sport similar to handball, which is very popular in Ireland and Scotland. A jaw injury took him away from the sport and he soon took up acting, enrolling in a conservatory, followed by his first forays into the theatre. He landed roles in plays staged in Dublin and London.

He then had his television acting debut in the series Normal people. The show premiered at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mescal played a charming high school student, a role that quickly made him a rising star and earned him a BAFTA Award in the Best Actor category.

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The sudden rise in his career took him by surprise: Mescal had not expected to win a BAFTA award. He hadn’t even prepared a speech in case they gave him the prize, and he went on stage to accept the prize, forced to improvise his words.

He did prepare a speech in case he won the Oscar, though he admitted he never expected to win. “I’m not going to win,” the Irishman admitted to the magazine IS. “Basically I can relax and enjoy myself.” However, in the same interview, he revealed that from time to time he realizes how tough it is to be nominated for an Oscar. He also indicated that he hoped for Colin Farrell, nominated for Banshees in Inisherintake the figurine, and that he intends to frame the emergency speech he had prepared “after never having to use it”.

The competition from the Irish actor in the Best Leading Actor category was fierce. Alongside Farrell, he competed against actors like Fraser, who has revived his career through arthouse film projects like The whalefor which he won the award, and Austin Butler, nominated for his starring role in Elvisthe biopic of the king of rock ‘n’ roll, Elvis Presley.

While he was the least chosen to win the Oscar, Mescal wasn’t far behind either: his role in son it was widely acclaimed by critics. the French newspaper the worldFor example, he called Mescal’s performance “magnetic” and praised the film, which explores the relationship between Calum, a young divorced father in his mid-thirties (played by Mescal), and Sophie, his 11-year-old daughter. during a summer vacation.

son It has been hailed as a feature reminiscent of another era as it is slow moving and without major traces of explicit conflict, but at the same time it challenges the old notions of fatherhood as Calum is not the typical father who is tough, unyielding and immune is. to his own emotions. He is a loving father, although he hides his depression from his daughter.

“You often see absent fathers in traditional dramas and you think, ‘Oh, he’s going to have a moment of revelation.’ In sonOn the other hand, Calum is a very good father but the rest of his life is hard on him. Sometimes he hates himself, but he never shows it to his daughter, which is dramatically very interesting and sad,” Mescal reflected in an interview written for the magazine. Interview with Dakota Johnson, actress famous for starring in Fifty Shades of grey and performances on bands such as The social network. Johnson was a partner of set from Mescal the prodigal daughter, the actor’s first feature film that has now been nominated for an Oscar.

Mescal’s character in it son he was a precocious father, and the concept of precocity seems to haunt the actor throughout his career. In the first scene of The Prodigal Daughter (also her first scene in a feature film), Mescal had to kiss Johnson, which she found intimidating.

“For some reason, the first scene we had to do was me kissing you,” Mescal recalled of filming. The Prodigal Daughter in his conversation with Johnson. “I was like ‘what the hell is going on?'”

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now the actor Normal people it is full of work. Soon he will release a new movie called Carmendirected by Benjamin Millipied, husband of actress Natalie Portman and choreographer of the critically acclaimed film the black swan.

In May 2023 he will also start recording for gladiatorial 2which is scheduled for a worldwide release on November 24, 2024. gladiatorial 2 it will be the first movie blockbusters (high box office draw) in Mescal’s short career. The sequel to Gladiator It will release 24 years after the first episode, starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

The original film was nominated for 12 Oscars and won in 5 categories: Crowe won Best Actor and the film won Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound.