Paul Colm Michael Mescal (/ˈmɛskəl/ MESS-kəl; born 2 February 1996) is an Irish actor. His accolades include two BAFTA Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. Born in Dublin and raised in Maynooth, he studied acting at The Lir Academy and then performed in plays in Dublin theatres. Mescal's breakthrough came with a leading role in the BBC / Hulu romantic drama miniseries Normal People (2020), earning him the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Mescal transitioned to film acting with his debut in the psychological drama The Lost Daughter (2021). For his performance as a troubled father in the coming-of-age drama Aftersun (2022), he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He gained further recognition for his performances in the psychological drama All of Us Strangers (2023), the historical action film Gladiator II (2024), and for his portrayal of William Shakespeare in Hamnet (2025). On stage, he portrayed Stanley Kowalski in a West End revival of the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire (2022), which won him the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. Description above from the Wikipedia article Paul Mescal, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- February 2, 1996 (30)
- Maynooth, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland
- Actor, also producer
- 11 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
What are Paul Mescal's films like?
Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 9
Light 0 · Serious 2 · Dark 7
A split, not a type: Grounded 5 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 2 · Intense 5
Steady 3 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 7 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 1
Casual 1 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 8
A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 6
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 5 of 10 analyzed roles.
Show the 10 rolesHide the roles
- Heroas Connell in Normal People (2020)
- Heraldas Sean McKeogh in The Deceived (2020)
- Shadowas Calum in Aftersun (2022)
- Allyas Aidan in Carmen (2022)
- Allyas Harry in All of Us Strangers (2023)
- Heroas Junior in Foe (2023)
- Heroas Lucius in Gladiator II (2024)
- Shapeshifteras Will in Hamnet (2025)
- Heroas Will in Hamnet (2025)
- Heroas Lionel in The History of Sound (2025)
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet4
- Ambiguous7
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Paul Mescal's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Paul Mescal's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
20 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 20 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
The Beatles: George (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
The Beatles: John (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
The Beatles: Paul (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
The Beatles: Ringo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2028)
Hamnet(2025)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The History of Sound(2025)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
Gladiator II(2024)
Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films
All of Us Strangers(2023)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Foe(2023)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Carmen(2022)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all films
Aftersun(2022)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
God's Creatures(2022)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
The Lost Daughter(2021)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
This Is Our Youth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
The Deceived(2020)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all shows
Drifting (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Normal People(2020)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all showsA Spy by Nature (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Hold On to Your Angels (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Merrily We Roll Along (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 99th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 20 titles, 13 of them dated from 2020 to 2025; peak year 2023.
Biggest box office
Gladiator II (2024)
Highest rated
Hamnet (2025)
Most popular right now
Gladiator II (2024)
Film career
Peak 2023 · at the high point of their film career. Top draw in 10 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2020Screen debut· Normal People
- 2021First film· The Lost Daughter
- 2022First top-billed film· Aftersun
- 2022Breakout· Aftersun
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
Awards
a BAFTA Award from 13 major nominations, 2020–2026.
- Golden Globe, nominated · Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Supporting Actor
- Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
- Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Supporting Actor
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Supporting Actor
- Oscar, nominated · Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Leading Actor
+2 other major bodies · 2 nominations
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Actor
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Lead Performance
- BAFTA Award, won · Leading Actor
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie Made for Television
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Paul Mescal's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 66th percentile, the median of all 9; across their 9 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 64th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 11 titles are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved4
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the acting 82/100 in their films, across 9 reviewed titles; fans 89, detractors 65. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Paul Mescal's work okay for kids?
Across up to 11 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity and profanity run heavier than most films and violence & gore lighter.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Paul Mescal work with?
People who share at least 2 of Paul Mescal's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Oliver Coates shares the most, 3.
Actors
- Emily WatsonShared titles: Hamnet (2025), God's Creatures (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Emily Watson
- Jessie BuckleyShared titles: Hamnet (2025), The Lost Daughter (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Jessie Buckley
Composers and editors
- Oliver CoatesShared titles: The History of Sound (2025), Foe (2023), Aftersun (2022)See all 3 shared titles with Oliver Coates
- Affonso GonçalvesShared titles: Hamnet (2025), The Lost Daughter (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Affonso Gonçalves
Producers
- Ana LeochaShared titles: The History of Sound (2025), Aftersun (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Ana Leocha
- Farhana BhulaShared titles: The History of Sound (2025), All of Us Strangers (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Farhana Bhula
- Lia BumanShared titles: The History of Sound (2025), Aftersun (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Lia Buman
- Neil ShahShared titles: The History of Sound (2025), Aftersun (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Neil Shah