With Gladiator II in theatres, Paul Mescal has been making a resurgence on the internet. Mescal hasn’t had many huge roles, but he starred in Normal People and All of Us Strangers. He mostly made a name for himself with Normal People and a few memes that followed him out of that.
Now, he’s on a press run with Fred Hechinger, advertising the Gladiator sequel. This press tour has reintroduced the public to him and has shown new fans how attractive this Irish actor is.
Mescal is widely known for one thing: longing for Daisy Edgar-Jones. Although he’s dated Pheobe Bridgers and Gracie Abrams, many fans speculate that he’s been in love with Edgar-Jones since Normal People and will never get over her.
A few years ago, Paul Mescal and Pheobe Bridgers went to the Met Gala. Two photographers caught two separate pictures of Mescal looking at Daisy Edgar-Jones while posing with Bridgers. The public became aware of these pictures, and they spread across all social media platforms as memes and speculations about who Mescal wanted more.
Bridgers and Mescal began their relationship in 2020, a month after Normal People came out. By December 2020, Mescal had starred in the “Savior Complex” music video. This relationship was huge for Bridgers’ fans, especially since many people from her fanbase had also watched Normal People when it was released.
In 2022, Bridgers was speculated to have written the song “Sidelines” about Mescal, and he later sang backing vocals on her holiday song “So Much Wine.” The revelation of Mescal lending his voice to the backing vocals of “So Much Wine” has grown more popular within the past month following the cinematic release of Gladiator II.
Bridgers and Mescal were rumored to have broken up in early 2023, with fans hoping he would return to Daisy Edgar-Jones to ignite their relationship.
Instead, Mescal has recently begun a relationship with Gracie Abrams, sharing the red carpet with her at the Gladiator II premiere. Despite Mescal stating he wants his dating life private, fans still kept a close eye on the new relationship, especially since Abrams is the second singer he’s dated in the past couple of years.
Now, even four years after the ending of Normal People, Mescal is still talking about Daisy Edgar-Jones throughout his Gladiator II press tour. He even stated that his co-star, Joseph Quinn, is Jones’s doppelganger.
In one interview, Paul Mescal and Fred Hechinger (who you’ve probably seen raving about his monkey co-star) are playing a game together. The game, “Who Am I,” was put on by MTV UK and involved the two playing a “celebrified” version of “Guess Who.”
One individual Mescal had to guess was Daisy Edgar-Jones. Before he guessed her name, Mescal hesitated at the hints given to him. He guessed Saoirse Ronan (incorrect) before guessing Daisy Edgar-Jones. Due to his hesitation, fans speculated that he was trying to think of any other female he had worked with so as not to seem too eager to talk about his Normal People costar.
This wasn’t the only time Mescal mentioned Edgar-Jones during the press tour. In another interview, he expressed his desire to work alongside her again. He laid out why she was such a good coworker in Normal People, and why he so desperately wanted to be in another movie or show with her.
As you can assume, fans took what he said and ran with it. Now, edits of the two actors are popping up all over TikTok, and many people are voicing their sorrows for Gracie Abrams. Abrams fans are breaking down her songs, trying to decipher which ones are about Mescal and his unrequited love for Edgar-Jones. Some fans believe “Packing It Up” is about the new relationship, while others believe “That’s So True” is about Mescal’s attraction to his former costar.
Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones go way back, as do the fan speculations that they will end up together one day. Many fans are just waiting around for their relationship to be announced, despite his current girlfriend and past statements that he and she are no more than friends. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
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