The Paul Mescal performance inspired by Shirley Manson: “That was a reference”
If there’s one thing that the BBC’s adaptation of the Sally Rooney book Normal People did, it’s that it very quickly made superstars out of its two leads, Daisy Edgar and Paul Mescal. Both are undeniably huge talents and have made the most out of the exposure the hit show brought, and both have made big strides into Hollywood in the five years since.
While Edgar has starred opposite the likes of Glen Powell in blockbuster movie Twisters, Mescal has also gone big budget in the past year or so, most notably going up against Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott’s long awaited sequel to Gladiator.
It’s been quite a stratospheric rise to fame for the actor from County Kildare in Ireland who is still only 29 and has already won an Olivier award, two BAFTAs and an Emmy nomination.
In the few years since his breakthrough, he has taken on a range of different roles in several different genres of films, many of which have required a large degree of difficulty.
He garnered immediate acclaim the year after Normal People for his part in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, before following it up with psychological drama God’s Creatures and then the coming-of-age drama Aftersun. That film featured a performance by Mescal described as “heartbreaking” and earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
It tells the story of a woman reflecting on a holiday spent twenty years ago with her father when she was just 11, as he suffers from depression and an inability to process how to make his way through life. Another hit from the A24 studios cannon it won a jury prize at 2022’s Cannes Film Festival and the job done by Mescal in the movie was universally heralded as something special.
One particular aspect that makes it more impressive is that Mescal had to play a Scottish native for the film, something for which the Irishman had to put in weeks of effort. In the end, he was able to produce an accent so convincing that viewers hailing from Scotland were able to narrow his particular vernacular down to a specific area of Edinburgh.
He said of the process: “I wasn’t able to do that accent at drama school. It was one of those that I decided wasn’t in my wheelhouse. Then something happens when you read something. I said: ’I want to be in this so much I will figure this out as quickly as possible.’”
Aside from seeking professional help in getting the dialect as convincing as possible, he also sought inspiration from a perhaps more unusual source, namely the lead singer of a leading ’90s rock group. He revealed:
“I worked with this great dialogue coach called Maeve Diamond. It was important to me to get it right. That probably came from seeing actors come over and butcher Irish accents. I listened to um … What is her name? The Scottish band Garbage? Yeah, Shirley Manson. That was a reference we pulled out.”
Manson was indeed born and raised in Edinburgh and found massive success in 1995 when her band Garbage with Smashing Pumpkins producer Butch Vig released their self-titled debut album which went on to sell 4million copies, featuring hits like Only Happy When it Rains and ‘Stupid Girl’. Their follow up album two years later did just as well.
Mescal meanwhile will be playing Paul McCartney in one film of the four Beatles biopics being currently put together by 1917 director Sam Mendes. He has also wrapped up on filming Hamnet, a story based around the son of William Shakespeare.
