Paul Mescal will receive the Hugo Boss Breakthrough Actor Of The Year award at the upcoming GQ Men Of The Year Awards.
Paul Mescal covers GQ
The 24-year-old actor has been chosen to receive the accolade in recognition of his "stellar" performance in 'Normal People', which gripped the nation at the beginning of the first coronavirus lockdown period.
GQ Editor Dylan Jones said: "The artists who have helped us get through two lockdowns by entertaining us have felt important – a crucial outlet, a way of escaping our world by entering theirs.
"GQ are proud to celebrate Paul Mescal, the emmy-nominated actor who became a heartthrob overnight and who’s performance in 'Normal People' was stellar.”
In an accompanying interview with the publication, Paul admitted he "struggled" to make a decision on the right career path because he didn't want to do something he'd get "utterly bored" with.
He said: "I really struggled with that decision: choosing one thing to focus on that I wouldn’t get utterly bored with. Acting was something that I didn’t really know how to do but I could see how it would take a great deal of dedication. It was a team environment, but one with an almost hermitic lifestyle for the individual players – just going in and being totally absorbed by it. That really appealed.”
The Irish star also revealed a painful injury led to him stop playing Gaelic football and give all his focus to acting.
He said: "I played it on the sly for two years. I had already decided to give it up in my final year but then I got slapped pretty hard across the face and my jaw snapped.
“If sport was my thing on the side, I had to drop my thing on the side. No distractions.”
Paul recently enjoyed a "very special" rewatch of 'Normal People' with his co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, marking the first time they had gone through the episodes together.
He said: “We hadn’t actually watched it together, Daisy and I. Because of lockdown, we hadn’t done that, so last week we got together and watched the whole thing through.
"We actually ended up playing a little drinking game: every time Connell wouldn’t complete a sentence or any time Marianne would make an emphatic statement that made Connell uncomfortable we did a shot.
"We ended up talking over most of it, just reflecting on particular days, costume changes, memories. It was very special to get to do that with her. The thing we shared – will always share – is so unique.”
GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2020 in association with Hugo Boss is available to view via British GQ’s YouTube channel on Thursday 26 November 2020 at 8pm.
For the full interview with Paul, visit https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/paul-mescal-normal-people.