The Timothée Chalamet performance that inspired Paul Mescal: “He blew my mind”
Since charming the world with his go-to sexy sad disposition in 2020’s Normal People, Paul Mescal has become one of the most sought after actors in the business.
He’s moved from one sad and complex hunk to another, whether it was a depressed dad in Charlotte Wells’ heartbreaking Aftersun or the mysterious, charming neighbour and love interest in Andrew Haigh’s romantic fantasy All of Us Strangers, and gained many, many accolades along the way in just five years.
Last year, he even dipped his two into more conventional Hollywood waters and went full hunk in Gladiator II, but to the relief of his fans, he swiftly moved back to his indie origins. Soon, he’ll grace our screens as the bard in Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of Hamnet, before appearing alongside fellow indie heartthrob Josh O’Connor in The History of Sound, which was nominated for the Cannes Palme d’Or earlier this year.
So, in just five years, Mescal has gone from a humble Irish stage actor to a household name, who is on track to become one of this generation’s defining actors; only time will tell. So you’d presume someone who has come from the stage, is so selective in their roles, and who has made such a splash so quickly would be looking mostly to the ‘greats’ of the past for inspiration.
But while he’s praised established actors and well-regarded local thespians, there’s one unexpected star who was a huge inspiration to the Irish actor: Timothée Chalamet. While Chalamet is obviously a highly regarded actor, it’s not that often we hear young actors citing each other as inspirations. And while Chalamet might be on the hunt for greatness, it’s undecided whether he’s there yet or not.
“Timothée Chalamet just smashed it in that movie. He blew my mind, if I’m honest with you,” he told GQ when speaking of his love for Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name, “He is on another level and it just made me realise what a young actor, roughly the same age as me, could be capable of, the level I had to get up to.”
This might have been back in 2020 when Mescal was only just blowing up, but several years later, it’s interesting to consider, given the fact that the two are now pretty much at the same level. In many people’s minds, the two are pretty much neck and neck for being the ‘best actor of their generation’. They’ve both had Oscar nominations but are yet to win, they’ve both garnered many other awards and are both very much considered ‘sex symbols’.
But where Mescal dabbled in Hollywood blockbuster territory so far, Chalamet is fully immersed. From the Dune franchise to his lauded performance in Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and even the god awful Wonka, he’s somewhat abandoned the emotional indie roles he was first loved for. And that Mescal clearly found to be an inspiration.
After all, Call Me By Your Name was a precursor to the many beloved gay romances that have followed, including the kinds that Mescal has found footing with. But while Chalamet’s performance in the film is undoubtedly powerful, especially for someone so young, personally, I don’t think he’s proven that his range is good enough to become one of the greats. The jury is still out on whether Mescal will get there or not either, but with the kinds of selectiveness he exercises and the humility he has carried with him into stardom, it seems more likely that he will garner the kind of respect those great actors of the past have. Only time will tell.
