Paul Mescal wishes audiences were “more tolerant” of actors playing similar characters or exploring similar themes within their movies.

The Irish actor admitted on The Louis Theroux Podcast that he would like to continuing exploring “deep love” on-screen following Normal People and All of Us Strangers, but he knows he’ll have to branch out so audiences “don’t get bored” of him.

“Love is, I think, the greatest feeling any human ever gets to experience and to get to play that (is a privilege),” he said. “I’ll consciously have to be pulled away from that in my career, I know, because I love it. I love that theme, I love it in life, I love being in that territory.

“Acting is one of those disciplines, say if you’re a painter or you’re a poet, you can have a distinct style, say if you’re Monet or Van Gogh, you have a distinct calling card or a signature style and I kind of wish audiences were more tolerant towards letting an actor exhaust the kind of creative impulse that they have rather than go, ‘Oh, they’ve done two…?’ It’s such a basic response.”

The 27-year-old actor admitted he is often teased about the fact he made two sad films in quick succession – 2022’s Aftersun and 2023’s All of Us Strangers.

“It’s like, ‘You’ve made two films that have made me cry, please God let Paul be happy in something.’ It’s like, ‘I’m making these choices consciously because that’s where I feel like I’m at in my life and they’re the things I want to express,'” he insisted.

“I think there’s a parasocial element to it… where the characters I play they (the audience) innately tie to me and they’re like, ‘Please God let Paul be happy.’ I’m like, ‘I’m fine.'”

Mescal has just finished filming Gladiator 2, his biggest movie yet, with Ridley Scott. It will be released in November.

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