Gladiator II star Paul Mescal reveals why he has to 'quit the internet' and social media

Paul Mescal has revealed he was forced to “quit the internet” because there was so much written about him online.

The Gladiator II star aired his frustration with the growing media attention he has been receiving since he shot to stardom as Connell Waldron in Normal People in 2020.

Asked by host Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad podcast what his algorithm was like, Mescal replied: "I've got to quit the internet.

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“It's like too much. It's too much of yourself. There's not enough bakeries, and there's too much of me."

He said that he would take "anything else other than me". “But I think it's just the way that the algorithms are cursed," he said.

In the same interview, he opened up about how acting was never on his radar, and he had no desire in his childhood to be "out in the world”.

Mescal, who was nominated for Best Actor in the 2023 Academy Awards for his role in ‘Aftersun’, added: “But also, you're smart enough to realise that, like, that's the gig. You get out in front of the movie, and you do your job. But there's a certain tax that comes with it."

In January 2024, the Kildare star revealed he quit his social media accounts “to protect himself”.

He said: "To go from totally anonymous to not anonymous is kind of the biggest jump. You develop your own set of rules… but you develop a kind of coping mechanism from that junction and the rest is hopefully going to stay nice and level."

He admitted he came off social media because he felt a constant pressure to post trailers and photoshoots, resulting in him feeling like a “commodity”.

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