Paul Mescal Reveals Normal People Sex Scenes Included This "Bizarre" Detail

Paul Mescal appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to talk occasionally uncomfortable sex scenes on his Hulu and BBC series Normal People. Watch what he said below.

By Kaitlin Reilly Jan 14, 2021 6:20 PMTags
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The steamy romance between Marianne Sheridan (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal) on Hulu's adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel Normal People made everyone's 2020 just a little hotter. However, while the on-again, off-again romance rivaled that in 50 Shades of Grey, filming the show's scenes wasn't exactly the sexiest experience.

At least, that's how star Paul explained it in his Jan. 13 interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. When asked what it was like to actually participate in those scenes, the Irish actor explained it involved a lot of planning and preparation. 

"Look, it's a bizarre experience. It's so hard to describe because those situations are typically, depending on what you're into, are very private encounters," he explained. "When you put in 10 people into the room, a boom operator, and you're being doused in fake sweat, it's just a really difficult thing. Obviously we had an amazing team, an incredibly suportive team that made those kinds of scenes feel like the least awful thing possible."

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While filming the sex scenes came with their own challenges, Paul admitted that it was equally as challenging to have his older relatives watch him get hot and heavy with his co-star. 

Enda Bowe/Hulu

"I have an auntie on the west coast of Ireland, and we were talking about what the show was going to be, and we warned her that if she ever felt like it was getting into that territory, to maybe go and make a cup of tea, maybe remove yourself from the room." Paul said. "I think she underestimated that those scenes were quite long, so there were a couple of cups of tea made."

In April 2020, the actor previously told Miss Porter why the show's nude scenes didn't bother him much. Well, at least, not that much. 

"I'm not concerned about it because I made a choice about that this project is something that I'm proud of," he said, before adding, "The closer I'm getting to people seeing me fully nude on screen—it does make me slightly nervous." 
