Paul Mescal

Paul Mescal (born 2 February 1996) is an Irish actor who made his debut in theatre. He starred as Connell in the Hulu and BBC Three series Normal People in 2020, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Mescal was born and reared in Maynooth, County Kildare to parents Dearbhla, a Garda, and Paul, a schoolteacher who also acted semi-professionally.

Mescal was an under-21 Gaelic footballer for Kildare and was a member of the Maynooth club. Former Tipperary and Kildare Gaelic footballer Brian Lacey praised his skills as a defender. His former county minor manager Brendan Hackett had Mescal down as a centre-back who would match Glenn Ryan, while Cian O'Neill described Mescal as "mature beyond his years for someone that young. Physically, he was very developed and very strong, he was strong in the tackle and a tight marker" and said Mescal reminded him of Paul Dempsey. He gave up the sport after a jaw injury.

Mescal graduated BA in Acting from The Lir Academy at Trinity College Dublin in 2017.

As he was graduating from The Lir, Mescal was offered roles in two high-profile theatre productions: Angela's Ashes and The Great Gatsby. Due to scheduling, he took on The Great Gatsby, starring as the lead at the Gate Theatre. He also played the Prince in a contemporary retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes at the Gate that year.

In 2018, Mescal landed the role of Lieutenant Langon in The Plough and the Stars at the Lyric Theatre and Gaiety Theatre in London, and played Bryan in the world premiere of Louise O'Neill's Asking for It. He then acted in A Midsummer Night's Dream and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man with the Rough Magic Theatre company for the 2018 Dublin Theatre Festival and Kilkenny Arts Festival.

In May 2019, it was announced that Mescal would star in the main role as Connell alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones in Hulu and BBC Three series Normal People, an adaptation of the novel by Sally Rooney. The role earned him a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He is also set to play Danny in comedy series Digz.