My new direction
Normal People star Paul wants to duet with Niall
There are lots I’d like to perform with like Niall Horan PAUL MESCAL
OK MAGAZINE
NORMAL People star Paul Mescal has revealed his hopes to duet with One Direction singer Niall Horan.
The actor, whose breakthrough role was as Connell Waldron in the hit coming-of-age series, wants to make as big an impression behind the mic as he did on the screen.
The 24-year-old told OK! Magazine: “There are lots I’d like to perform with – Billie Eilish, Niall Horan. But I think I’d be firmly out of my depth.
“I wanted to get into musical theatre before I wanted to do acting but I realised I wasn’t the best dancer so I had to re-evaluate.
“I realised acting was the thing that I enjoyed the most out of all the disciplines.”
Paul, from Co
Kildare,
has been nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award in the Best Actor in a Limited Series category.
He will go up against a host of famous faces – including John Boyega (Small Axe), Hugh Grant (The Undoing), Chris Rock (Fargo), Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much is True) and Morgan Spector (The Plot Against America).
The Critics’ Choice nomination comes after the Maynooth man received his first Emmy nod for the same role last year, which he lost out on to Mark Ruffalo.
But having cemented himself as one of the biggest stars of the past 12 months, Paul revealed how
“lovely” it has been for his family to watch him realise his dreams after years of struggle and worry.
Speaking about how his parents supported his choice of career, he said: “They got behind it immediately. “Under the surface, there was probably a lot of fear and trepidation but I got nothing but support.
“It’s a lovely thing to share with your parents and your family because they see the three years of training, they see the bad auditions and they see the days when you’re struggling with it.” Looking back on his early days, Paul, who has also worked with some of cinema’s biggest hitters including Olivia Coleman and Dakota Johnson, recalled how he spent his first wage cheque buying drinks for his co-stars.
He said: “I did stupid things buying the cast a round of drinks, which was pretty much my entire wage.”
Paul’s Normal People co-star Daisy Edgar-jones has also received a Critics’ Choice nomination for her role as Marianne in the series, which was dramatised by director Lenny Abrahamson from Sally Rooney’s novel.
The show itself is nominated for Best Limited Series, alongside I May Destroy You, Mrs America, The Plot Against America, The Queen’s Gambit, Small Axe, The Undoing and Unorthodox.