Mescal was born in Maynooth, County Kildare, on February 2, 1996, to Dearbhla, a Garda officer, and Paul, a schoolteacher who also acted semi-professionally. He is the eldest of three siblings, including a brother and a sister. He went to the Maynooth Post Primary School.
He was a Kildare minor and under-21 Gaelic footballer and a member of the Maynooth GAA club. Gaelic footballer Brian Lacey praised Mescal’s skills as a defender, while physical trainer Cian O’Neill described him as “mature beyond his years … very developed and very strong”.
He retired from the sport due to a jaw injury. Mescal made his stage debut at the age of 16, playing the titular Phantom in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, after which he auditioned and was accepted into Trinity College Dublin’s The Lir Academy. Mescal received her Bachelor of Arts in Acting degree in 2017. Prior to graduation, he secured agents for his acting career.
Mescal was offered roles in two theatre productions after earning his Bachelor of Arts degree: Angela’s Ashes and The Great Gatsby; he chose the latter and starred as the titular Jay Gatsby at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. The Irish News His work has been described as a “butterfly of self-creation among an ensemble in constant motion and fluttering improvisation” by Peter Crawley. That same year, he played the Prince in a modern retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes at the same theatre.
Paul Mescal Now: Is Paul Mescal still in Australia?
Mescal last visited Australia in early 2021 to film Carmen, and he celebrated his 25th birthday at The Rose Hotel in Chippendale.