If you've watching Normal People on BBC or Hulu, then you'll know that Paul Mescal, the show's leading star, has become somewhat of a talking point. The actor, who plays Connell in the adaption of Sally Rooney's novel of the same name, is an Irish-born 24-year-old, currently living in London and getting to grips with his new-found fame. But who is in his family? Here's what we know...
Paul plays Connell in the BBC drama
Paul Mescal's parents
Paul was born and raised in County Kildare. His mum, Dearblha, worked as a police officer and his dad, Paul, was a school teacher. No doubt Paul's parents are hugely proud of his work in Normal People, but the 24-year-old did admit that the intimate scenes in the drama were a little awkward for some of his family to watch. During his appearance on the Graham Norton show, Paul revealed the awkward moment one of his relatives watched those scenes. "My granny warned my great aunt that there were a lot of sexy bits. [She told her] that when she felt those were about to happen she should go off and do something else. In episode two when we started kissing she took the dog out. But she underestimated the time it would take and as she came back in we were right in the throes of it all. I suggested that a good long chore or a couple of cups of tea would do the trick next time!"
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Paul has become an overnight sensation
Paul Mescal's siblings
It seems Paul is not the only talented one in his family! His younger sister, Nell, is quite the singer. Nell has even released her own single, Déjà vu, which is available to listen to on Spotify and the singer has posted snippets of the song on her Instagram. Nell even poked fun at her older brother's own singing video. After Paul, who also has a brother, Donnacha, uploaded a video of him singing Sia's Chandelier recently, Nell commented underneath, joking: "Coming for my brand" to which Paul replied: "Cop on and stop shouting at me."
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Paul with his brother and sister
Paul Mescal's grandparents
Earlier this week, Paul shared some old photographs of his beloved grandparents as they celebrated a very special milestone. The actor uploaded the sweet snaps on his Instagram and captioned the post: "54 years married today! I can't cope," complete with a crying-face and love-heart emoji. Many of the actor's followers were loving the cute dedication to his grandparents and took the comments to gush over the post. One person wrote: "Such a blessing to have been witness to their love," while a second person wrote: "Not often do people stay married that long anymore my grandparents have been married 55 years honestly it’s couple goals," while a third person cheekily wrote: "This could be us Paul."
The actor paid tribute to his grandparents on their anniversary
Paul Mescal's relationship status
Coming from a close family, it's unsurprising that Paul is keen to settle down. He recently revealed in an interview on the podcast, I'm Grand Mam, that he is "really looking forward to dating" once lockdown restrictions have lifted. First detailing how he was using dating apps on his hunt for love, but didn't find them useful, he said: "I stopped using it weeks before... because I didn't like it anyway. To be honest I'm really looking forward to dating." He continued: "I've had no kind of opportunity to be like meeting somebody new or being remotely intimate with anybody." Paul then revealed he was looking for a serious relationship that he hoped would eventually lead to marriage. "I think we're at the point where I want to get married and settle down," he shared. "But you know that kind of hysterical thing where if lockdown ever happens again, I'm making sure that I'm married. But yeah, I am looking forward to dating."
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