Why Normal People’s Paul Mescal Is “Angry” About Interest in His Personal Life

Paul Mescal is keeping a tight hold on his private life.

In fact, the Normal People star emphasized the importance of maintaining boundaries from the public eye—no matter how much of an interest there is.

"The stuff that hurts is the personal stuff," he told Harper's Bazaar in an interview published Aug. 16. "It's nobody else's business and should never be commented on because it's indecent. And it's unkind. Honest answer, it makes me angry… It's the entitlement to the information that people expect that just drives me f--king mad."

His words come nearly nine months after reports emerged that he and musician Phoebe Bridgers broke up after two years of dating. While neither Paul nor Phoebe have commented on the split speculation, the "Motion Sickness" singer seemingly moved on when she was accidentally captured packing PDA with Bo Burnham at a Taylor Swift concert in May.

However, Paul positively looked back on his past romances when discussing how his relationships impacted his work in upcoming film Foe, in which stars opposite Saoirse Ronan as her husband.

"The feeling of being in a relationship and being in love, to me, sometimes can feel quite like a horse with blinders on," the 27-year-old added. "That's such a wonderful feeling. The work in this film was finding out what it's like to be in a tired relationship. That's not a sensation I'm familiar with."

This isn't the first time Paul has opened up about navigating life in the public eye. After all, his philosophy sharing his life with fans has shifted dramatically since bursting into Hollywood in 2020.

"When Normal People came out, I was very forthright in interviews, and it didn't actually serve me," he told Vanity Fair in February. "But the temptation still exists to be like, ‘Shut the f--k up. This is my life. This is what's going on. Or this is what's not going on.'"

So these days, he makes it a priority to keep his cards close to his chest.

"As much as I can, that's going to be my life that is private," the Aftersun star added. "That's a difficult thing to achieve. But giving strangers an answer about my life doesn't actually help me. It's like a quick boost of serotonin, being like, ‘I've said what I need to say.' And then it's just Twitter fodder."