Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal has revealed he was groped by a fan outside London’s Almeida Theatre, where he is starring in a sold-out season of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Mescal, who is nominated for best actor for “Aftersun,” told U.K. outlet ES Magazine that he agreed to pose for a picture outside the Almeida. “As we posed for it, she put her hand on my ass,” Mescal said. The actor said he thought it was an accident and moved away, “but the hand followed. I remember tensing up and feeling just, like, fury. I turned to her and said, ‘What’re you doing? Take your hand off my ass.'”
“The last thing I want to do is call somebody out in front of the theater — it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved — but it was really not okay. It was so gross, creepy.” On the price of fame Mescal told the magazine: “97% it is really nice — then 3% is somebody, like, grabbing your ass.”
On his upcoming appearance at the Oscars, Mescal said he’ll have a speech ready in case he wins. The actor did not have a speech handy when he won the lead actor category for the 2021 BAFTA TV Awards for “Normal People.”
“I was convinced I wouldn’t win and then had a full brain. I saw Michaela Coel [who won leading actress for “I May Destroy You”] backstage straight after and she was like, ‘Well done, well done — you should have prepared a speech.’ So I’m going to write one and then have it framed when I never have to use it.”
“A Streetcar Named Desire” is one of the best reviewed productions at the West End this year. It is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, whose “Cabaret” won several Olivier Awards. The play will transfer to the West End’s Phoenix Theatre from March 20 for a six-week run.
