This really is just Paul Mescal’s world and we are simply living in it.
To be honest, things could be much worse…
The Maynooth man has landed not one but two massive roles in the space of a couple of days.
It’s been reported that he has been eyed to star in director Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar-winning saga Gladiator over two decades later.
Paul has been tipped to play Lucius the son of Lucilla who will be the focus of the second film.
Gladiator was nominated for 12 Oscars and won five. The sequel will be set years after Maximus died in combat with Commodus in the Colosseum.
Other names in the frame for the coveted role included Timothee Chalamet, Miles Teller, Austin Butler and Richard Madden.
And while nothing has been confirmed as of yet, Deadline reports that the minds behind the film have “got their man”.
That isn’t the only film that our Paul has been tipped for.
Variety has just confirmed that he will replace Blake Jenner in the musical, Merrily We Roll Along. Unfortunately, we won’t see this one for a very long time.
The ambitious film will be shot over 20 years, exactly like director Richard Linklater’s previous film Boyhood which swept award season back in 2014.
The story follows the disintegrating friendship of three people as Franklin [Paul Mescal] abandons Charley [Ben Platt] and Mary [Beanie Feldstein] to become a successful Hollywood film producer.
However, the twist is that the story is told in reverse chronological order, starting with Mary castigating Franklin as a sell-out and ending 20 years earlier with the characters as fresh-faced hopefuls.
Blake Jenner, who is best known for his role in Glee, was cast in the film back in 2019 but just over a year later, he admitted in an Instagram post to physically and emotionally abusing a former partner.
It has been confirmed that Paul has filmed his first scenes for the film. Although it is not known if director Richard Linklater is starting the film from scratch or keeping the scenes that Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein shot back in 2019.
We’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for this one.
