I know he’s presumed to be Next Big Thing, mostly because of (a) his wimpy, weepy dad performance in Aftersun, (b) his Stanley Kowalski on the British stage earlier this year, (c) his having been tapped to step into Richard Linklater‘s adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along, and (d) his forthcoming starring role as Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen‘s Lucilla, in Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator sequel.
But for me, the 27 year-old Paul Mescal is a problem. There’s something overly soft and sweet and smiley about the guy. He just doesn’t radiate that solemn, low-key, less-is-more studly male aura. It would be one thing if he had some Steve McQueen behavior going on, but he doesn’t. He’s just not my kinda guy.