If you have already seen Hamnetyou might want to savor this performance by Paul Mescal.
The Irish actor talks about the upcoming awards campaign for Chloe Zhao’s Oscar-favorite drama, in which he stars with Jessie Buckley as Will and Agnes Shakespeare, respectively, mourning the loss of their son.
He’s become a superstar in recent years, first capturing our hearts as Sally Rooney. Normal people with Daisy Edgar-Jones before roles in All of us strangers, After the sun And Gladiator: Part II.
But in a recent interview with The Guardian alongside The history of sound co-star Josh O’Connor, Mescal says we may see a little less of him until he appears as Paul McCartney in Sony’s Beatles films, currently scheduled for 2028.
“I’ve been in this business for five or six years now and I feel very lucky. But I’m also learning that I don’t think I can continue to do this as much,” the Oscar nominee said. When asked if he’s talking about rationing, he replies: “I think so. I’m going to have to start doing it. Of course… Rationing doesn’t necessarily mean less,” he adds.
“It means learning that films like The history of sound remove more from the well. You can’t keep going back and still expect to deliver something you’re proud of. What that rationing looks like, I don’t know. I miss being on stage, so I might have a moment where I only do theater for a few years. I also have different priorities in my personal life that I want to take care of.
“Once I’m done promoting [Hamnet]”, Mescal said, “I hope no one sees me until 2028, when I play with the Beatles. People will have a break from me and I will have a break from them.
Wake Up Dead Man: A knife-edge mystery The O’Connor star echoes Mescal’s desire to spend some time away from the spotlight. “I’m also going to take some time off,” said the Briton. But both men are also thinking about balancing their mental and physical health while remaining visible. “That’s the big fear,” Mescal says of not being able to keep up to date. “But what’s the alternative? I don’t want to resent what I love. It seems bold, but I’d rather not be on the train if that’s the choice.”
Says O’Connor, who also appears in Kelly Reichardt’s slow-paced heist film The brain: “The nightmare is being unhappy with the job…Plus, the more we see an actor, the harder it is for that actor to pull the wool over your eyes and convince you that he’s someone else.”
Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films are set to star Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan as McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, respectively. Aside from this and that of Richard Linklater Merry we ride film, shot over 20 years with actors aging in real time, Mescal has nothing planned anytime soon.
He’s aiming for another Oscar nomination for HamnetBuckley is currently the favorite in her category.
