Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal groped by ‘creepy’ female fan

The Irish actor, who rose to prominence in the TV adaptation of Normal People, says he was assaulted by a female fan outside North London’s Almeida Theatre.

Irish actor Paul Mescal says he was assaulted outside a London theatre. Picture: AFP

Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal says he was sexually assaulted by a ‘creepy’ female fan outside a north London theatre.

The Irish actor, who has been starring as Stanley Kowalski in a critically-acclaimed revival of the Tennessse Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, told The Evening Standard that a woman “put her hand on my ass” as he posed for a photograph with her outside the Almeida theatre.

“As we posed for it, she put her hand on my ass,” he said. “I thought it was an accident, so I like [moved away] but the hand followed.

“I remember tensing up and feeling just, like, fury. I turned to her and said: ‘What’re you doing? Take your hand off my ass.’”

He said that “the last thing I want to do is call somebody out in front of the theatre — it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved — but it was really not OK. It was so gross, creepy.”

Mescal, 27, who landed a star-making turn after starring in the BBC’s adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel Normal People, noted that he has struggled adapting to his new-found fame.

Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones in a scene from the TV series Normal People. Picture: Stan

“Ninety-seven per cent of it is really nice — then 3 per cent is somebody, like, grabbing your ass,” he said.

Mescal earned his first Academy Award nomination this year, in the best actor category for his role in Scottish writer-director Charlotte Wells’ debut film Aftersun. He plays a young father with rocky mental health, on a summer holiday at a fading beachside resort on the Turkish coast, with his 11-year-old daughter.

David Stratton, who awarded the Aftersun three stars out of five, wrote that the film “is immensely likeable, well acted, touching and a little troubling” but the story is “wafer-thin”.

Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio in Aftersun. Picture: Supplied

The actor will compete with the likes of Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, and Bill Nighy. “I’m not going to win,” he said. “It’s low-stakes pressure, I can basically just sit back and enjoy it.”

“It’s just cool, I’m going to be at the thing I remember watching when I was growing up. And when they call out the best actors there’s going to be a camera on me and my mum, waiting to clap for — hopefully — Colin Farrell.”

The 94th Academy Awards will air on Channel 7 on Monday, March 8.