Becca Monaghan
Feb 24, 2023
content.jwplatform.com
Actor Paul Mescal recalled the time he confronted a woman who groped him after a theatre performance.
The Oscar nominee had been starring in the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. When the show had finished, a female fan asked for a photo outside the Almeida theatre in north London.
"As we posed for it, she put her hand on my ass," he told ES Magazine. "I thought it was an accident, so I like [moved away]. But the hand followed. I remember tensing up and feeling just, like, fury."
When asked what he did in response, Mescal replied: "I turned to her and said, 'What're you doing? Take your hand off my ass'."
Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
He told the publication that calling her out in front of the theatre was "the last thing I want to do", adding: "It's uncomfortable for everyone involved.
"But it was really not OK. It was so gross, creepy."
He then said that for the most part, fame so far is "really nice", but the other three per cent was "somebody, like, grabbing your ass".
Mescal, from Maynooth in County Kildare, is this year nominated in the best actor category at the 95th Academy Awards for his role in the indie coming-of-age film Aftersun.
His breakout role came when he played Connell in the BBC’s adaption of Sally Rooney’s novel, Normal People, starring opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones.
The part saw him described in the media as a sex symbol, with his character’s neck chain, in particular, eliciting much attention.
The production of A Streetcar Named Desire, where he stars opposite Patsy Ferran, is transferring to the West End in March after a successful run at the Almeida.
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)