Paul Mescal is an Irish actor known for his roles on stage and screen. His accolades include two BAFTA Awards and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Critics' Choice Awards.
He first gained recognition for his breakout starring role as Connell Waldron, a complex romantic lead struggling with identity, romance, and mental health issues in the BBC / Hulu romantic drama miniseries Normal People (2020). The series was an adaptation of the Sally Rooney 2018 novel of the same name. He earned acclaim for his performance as well as the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor along with nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie and the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor.
On film, he portrayed an emotionally unavailable father in the Charlotte Wells directed independent drama film Aftersun (2022) earned him many nominations, including for the Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor. He received the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Vantage Award for his contribution to film. That following year he was nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for playing a mysterious neighbor in the psychological drama All of Us Strangers (2024).
Mescal has also received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in the 2022 West End revival of the play A Streetcar Named Desire. He reprised his role Off-Broadway in New York City earning acclaim as well as a Theater World Award and nominations a Drama League Award, and a Dorian Award for his performance.