Mescal puts focus on love and career, and dumps Instagram
NORMAL People star Paul Mescal must have the urge to feel more normal – as he has deleted his Instagram page, which had over 1.1million followers.
It has been reported the star has taken a break from the social media app as he was ‘getting sucked into comments’ and ‘wasting time’.
The Kildare man’s decision to quit the app could lose him thousands in brand deals and endorsements.
Mescal had previously spoken about the pressures of social media, telling Glamour magazine in September that it was an ‘amazing privilege’ to see his followers soar from 1,000 to hundreds of thousands.
‘I get the most joy out of it in terms of that it is coming from people who saw Normal People and really related to it. But it’s also important to acknowledge that, I think, we do live in an age where we can become obsessed with that,’ he said.
‘As time has gone by this year, I’ve learned a lot in terms of needing to
‘It won’t be written on your tombstone’
step away from those things. Nobody’s going to remember your Instagram following. It’s not going to be written on your tombstone.’
His Twitter account, which has 179,100 followers, remains active but his last tweet was in August 2020.
Love Island winner Greg O’Shea previously labelled social media as ‘dangerous’ due to the barrage of online abuse he received after the show.
It is not known if Mescal’s move away from social media is related to a desire to keep his private life private, particularly if a romance is blossoming.
In recent days, his rumoured girlfriend, US singer Phoebe Bridgers, has opened up about her feelings for the actor.
When asked about speculation about her relationship with the Irish heartthrob, the 26-year-old Grammy-nominated star replied: ‘Oh, he’s the sweetest – he’s the best.’
But when asked if she considered him ‘hot’, the LA-based performer declined to comment any further, keeping her cards close to her chest.
Her remarks to Style magazine will do little to allay rumours that the two stars have become very close in recent times.
Last February, Mescal celebrated his 25th birthday and re-posted a photo of himself that Phoebe had shared on her Instagram stories, showing the actor holding a huge pile of pizza boxes.
‘Happy birthday pizza boy @paulmescal,’ Phoebe wrote. Paul replied with a red love heart emoji and ‘Mmmmmm’.
Mescal also starred in one of her videos, Savior Complex, which was released last December. This further fuelled speculation of a romance between the pair.
The actor’s career has gone from strength to strength since debuting as Connell Waldron in Normal People in April last year. He has since featured in the drama The Deceived and will star in The Lost Daughter, opposite Dakota Johnson and Olivia Colman.
Mescal’s work as a lovelorn student on Normal People, alongside co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, won him a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie at the 2020 Emmy Awards.