\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you seen the sausage ad?\u201d Andrew Scott asked me.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, we\u2019re not going to talk about that,\u201d Paul Mescal said.<\/p>\n
It was a mid-November morning in Los Angeles, and I was having breakfast with two actors who have created some of the most indelible romantic leads of recent vintage: Scott, 47, played the \u201cHot Priest\u201d on the second season of \u201cFleabag,\u201d while the 27-year-old Mescal broke through \u2014 and broke hearts \u2014 as the conflicted jock Connell in Hulu\u2019s \u201cNormal People.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, instead of aiming those love beams at women, they\u2019ll point them at each other in the drama \u201cAll of Us Strangers,\u201d<\/a> due Dec. 22 in theaters. It\u2019s like an Avengers-level team-up, if the Avengers recruited exclusively from the ranks of sad-eyed Irish heartthrobs who caused a sensation over the 2019-20 television season.<\/p>\n But before we could talk about their sexy, shattering new movie, Scott gently ribbed his co-star about an ad<\/a> for an Irish sausage brand, Denny, that Mescal had starred in just out of drama school. (Though the rest of the world was introduced to Mescal in \u201cNormal People,\u201d Ireland already knew him from the ubiquitous sausage commercial.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cLook, I needed that job in a massive way,\u201d Mescal said. \u201cThat paid my rent for the rest of the year. But if I could take it back \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh, no, it\u2019s lovely you have that!\u201d Scott said. \u201cI actually thought the character you created in the sausage ad was \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 career defining?\u201d Mescal offered.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made me want a sausage!\u201d Scott said a little too eagerly, causing both men to laugh. \u201cEasy, folks, that\u2019s too easy a joke,\u201d Mescal said.<\/p>\n Scott and Mescal\u2019s teasing, affectionate chemistry is put to excellent use in \u201cAll of Us Strangers,\u201d directed by Andrew Haigh (\u201cWeekend,\u201d \u201c45 Years\u201d). Scott stars as Adam, a lonely writer who finds that his childhood home has become a mysterious portal that allows him to reconnect with his long-dead parents (played by Claire Foy and Jamie Bell). At the same time as Adam grapples with this past made manifestly present, he navigates an uncertain but tantalizing future with his neighbor Harry (Mescal), with whom he develops an intense romantic bond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Over breakfast, we discussed the movie, which recently took the top prize at the British Independent Film Awards<\/a> in addition to wins for directing, writing and Mescal\u2019s supporting performance. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Andrew, you were attached to this movie first. How did you feel when Paul was cast?<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> I was really thrilled because I was hoping that people would be able to see how cinematic and brilliant that role is.<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> It never occurred to me that people wouldn\u2019t be interested in it.<\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> Well, the character is such a vessel for love. To be able to play love, it\u2019s something that you have to just know how to embody, and Paul is so excellent about being able to allow the audience in. When I heard he was interested, I was saying to Andrew, \u201cMake that happen!\u201d<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> Even if I didn\u2019t like the script or Andrew Haigh as much as I do, and I knew Andrew [Scott] was going to be doing the film, I still would have done the film.<\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> Would you?<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> A hundred percent. And I know that probably sounds sycophantic, but when I was reading it and imagining you\u2019d do it, I thought, \u201cThis is built for an actor of your caliber.\u201d There\u2019s lots of brilliant dramatic actors in the world, but what I think separates Andrew is his capacity to understand the dramatic requirements of a scene but also to play utterly against it. He finds humor in subject matter like this, which is really quite heavy, and if you can make an audience laugh, you\u2019re halfway to making them cry.<\/p>\n This is a very tactile movie, too.<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> There\u2019s so much touching, whether that\u2019s familial touching or a more sensual thing. People have talked an awful lot about the chemistry and the sex between our characters, but actually what I think is really radical and affecting about the relationship is how affectionate and tender they are with each other. It\u2019s such a beautiful thing to play, isn\u2019t it? Just real care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n MESCAL<\/strong> I find it healing to watch that kind of emotional intimacy. I remember being surprised when we watched it for the first time, because I didn\u2019t remember being so close to your face when we were talking, how we were totally taking each other in. There\u2019s a weird thing that I don\u2019t think you can cheat: You know how when somebody you love is talking to you, and you look at their lips? It\u2019s like, Jesus, I can\u2019t remember doing that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Andrew, you\u2019ve said before that acting is a matter of revealing. What\u2019s being revealed about you by taking on this role?<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> I think an awful lot, if I\u2019m honest. I\u2019m happy to be able to say that to be emancipated from shame has been genuinely the biggest achievement of my life. For a long time, I have felt very comfortable with myself, but it doesn\u2019t take much to go back there \u2014 something a taxi driver can say can still wound you. If he might say, \u201cYou\u2019ve got a wife?\u201d You could go, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t,\u201d or is that sort of a lie by omission? I think the challenge was to undo the work and go to that place where you feel frightened.<\/p>\n How were you able to emancipate yourself from shame?<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> I genuinely think that acting helped me. When I was a kid, I started doing elocution lessons because I had a really bad lisp. \u201cShe sells seashells,\u201d I had to say that 17 times a day. So they sent me to elocution, which was boring, but eventually it was speech and drama classes. I was so shy and terrified, but then someone would say, \u201cGet up and do an improvisation,\u201d and some part of me felt \u2026<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> \u2026 free?<\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> Free, and I loved it. And then I practiced it a little bit more and then started doing it as a job. When I was 18 or 19, I was playing gay parts but I wasn\u2019t out. A lot of people within the industry were queer, so I was surrounded by them and then, bit by bit, started to feel confident. To make something like [\u201cAll of Us Strangers\u201d], it moves me, because I never thought that I\u2019d get a chance to expose myself so much in a film like this or for it to be in such a trusting environment with such brilliant colleagues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And do you rush headlong into the chance to expose yourself like that?<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> I do. It\u2019s my responsibility. The further I go into acting, I think that\u2019s all it is, actually.<\/p>\n In the first scene you share, Paul\u2019s character is boldly trying to flirt his way into Andrew\u2019s apartment. Paul, it\u2019s a kick to see you play a man so assertive and sure of what he wants.<\/strong><\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> I was just so giddy because I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve got many opportunities to play somebody like that. It reminded me of characters I would have played in drama school \u2014 a lot more front-footed, a little bit bolder. Part of it was surprising an audience that might associate me with more interior, back-footed characters that I\u2019ve played.<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>I remember so clearly you saying the line, \u201cThere\u2019s vampires at my door.\u201d That line could seem completely preposterous and it\u2019s a hard sell, but it\u2019s unique, right? I\u2019m obsessed with writing that has a real autograph about it.<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> ChatGPT wouldn\u2019t come up with that.<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>Exactly. And human beings have an extraordinary way of expressing themselves. I feel the same way when people talk about big acting.<\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>I love big acting.<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>Some people do that kind of polite, nobody-will-notice-me acting, and sometimes it can be a little dull.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n MESCAL <\/strong>You\u2019re looking for an opportunity to play something truthfully, but also if that truth can be a bigger, more fractious choice, maybe that could be fun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n What\u2019s the biggest acting you\u2019ve ever done?<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>Oh my God. Pick a card, any card. I did a play called \u201cPresent Laughter\u201d by No\u00ebl Coward, about a guy who\u2019s an over-the-top actor. It was kind of a farce, and I\u2019m obsessed with farce.<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> I am so jealous of people who can do farce, I don\u2019t know where I would start.<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>It\u2019s all about timing the slam of the door, and there\u2019s no greater feeling than when you\u2019re talking to the other actor and you are waiting for the audience to stop laughing. You\u2019d love it because it\u2019s so physical as well.<\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>I\u2019m just a bit scared of comedy because I didn\u2019t do a lot of it in drama school. Don\u2019t think [I\u2019ve got] a particularly funny disposition.<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>Are you out of your mind? I\u2019m going to have a little think now.<\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>I\u2019d love to do a rom-com.<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>I think you\u2019d be very good at playing some sort of neurotic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n MESCAL <\/strong>Really?<\/p>\n SCOTT <\/strong>Yeah. I love those kinds of characters that don\u2019t have a sense of humor.<\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>No sense of humor. Great. I can do that, I can do that easily. [Laughs.<\/em>]<\/p>\n With <\/strong>\u201cNormal People\u201d<\/a><\/strong> and <\/strong>\u201cFleabag,\u201d<\/a><\/strong> where you played romantic leads, how did you handle the intensity of the audience imprinting on you?<\/strong><\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>I remember the first couple of months of that happening, I was like, \u201cJesus, what can I do?\u201d And the answer is actually nothing. There\u2019s nothing you can do about it if somebody wants to imprint or project onto you.<\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> That was all during the pandemic, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>Yeah, yeah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Was it better or worse that you were in your house for most of it?<\/strong><\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>Much, much better. Even doing junkets when \u201cNormal People\u201d came out, I was really glad to do it within the confines of my own home. I could put the laptop down and nobody knew where I was.<\/p>\n Andrew, you weren\u2019t trapped at home when \u201cFleabag\u201d came out. Could you tell something had changed in the way people perceived you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n SCOTT<\/strong> It already happened a little bit when I did \u201cSherlock\u201d<\/a> [playing Moriarty] because that really does have a fandom. There were like a thousand people that would come to set, it was absolutely insane.<\/p>\n MESCAL <\/strong>Jesus.<\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> So \u201cFleabag” was completely different in that sense. It didn\u2019t have the same frenzy.<\/p>\n Maybe not as you were filming it, but there was definitely a passionate fandom once it was released.<\/strong><\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> There was, but I really enjoyed that because I love the show. I\u2019m so proud of it and I loved that part, so I liked that it really affected people so much.<\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> Still! I watch it once a year.<\/p>\n Paul, you even <\/strong>dressed as the hot priest for Halloween<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n MESCAL<\/strong> I did. That went down a bit of a storm.<\/p>\n When you have a breakthrough project like those two series, and you\u2019re seen differently in this business afterward, is it hard not to get swept up by all the offers that come your way?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n MESCAL<\/strong> I know what I like. I don\u2019t have the confidence in myself as an actor to do something that isn\u2019t good. I don\u2019t think I can pull the wool over people\u2019s eyes with bells and whistles in terms of performance, and I\u2019m actually glad I can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n SCOTT<\/strong> But is it weird when you are in L.A. now? I opened up my curtains this morning, and there you are.<\/p>\n