Paul Mescal Says His Mom Was ‘Upset’ by Viral One-Night Stand Rumors

In a new interview with GQ, Gladiator II star Paul Mescal responded to widespread viral rumors about his alleged behavior after one-night stands, which he revealed “upset” his mother.

For several months, social media users have spread unsubstantiated rumors that Mescal ditches his one-night stands the morning after, taking them for a stroll in the park before suddenly sprinting away from them. Many people felt the actor’s routine morning jogs were evidence of this.

The rumors seemingly evolved from a similar but even more peculiar urban legend that posited Mescal would meet a woman in a bar, ask her to go for a walk, and then ditch them during their stroll. What the actor could possibly gain from this scenario is anyone’s guess.

@leanneafin

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♬ original sound - Leanne Hanafin ????

The Normal People star dismissed the rumors as “categorically untrue,” adding that he and his family “were looking at the videos and we were pissing ourselves at it…We were laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing."

However, Mescal’s mother wasn’t the least bit entertained. "The one thing that upset me was that I was in the kitchen, I remember my mum looking at the videos and she was getting upset," the Aftersun Oscar nominee recalled. "Isn't that devastating?”

Mescal continued: “I was like, oh, it's funny to us—my brother, me, my sister—because we know that this is the way the internet works. It's hilarious. If it was true, it'd be f---ing bad, but as a rumor, it's funny. Then I was like, oh, if you're a mother, her impulse is to come out and be like, 'He wouldn't do this.'"

But Mescal is savvy enough to understand that a certain amount of discourse—no matter how far-fetched—is beneficial for his career, and it’s safer to let fans theorize rather than reveal too much about himself. "Better that somebody has a strong opinion about you rather than no opinion at all, even if it's wrong," he said. "You know who you are behind closed doors, and that's the private bit that needs to be protected."

You can head over to GQ to read Mescal’s full interview.