- Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal met on the set of Normal People – the show which rocketed them to stardom
- While the series was released almost five years ago, she says the pair are still ‘best friends’
- Edgar-Jones revealed how the pair have navigated their way through the first few years of fame together
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal have had a whirlwind (almost) five years.
Pretty much unknown before the Covid-19 pandemic, the pair have rocketed to stardom and now find themselves brushing shoulders with Hollywood’s elite.
But although a lot has happened since the hit Hulu series Normal People – on which the pair both made their names – was released in 2020, the pair have remained fast friends.
And now Edgar-Jones, 26, has admitted that they’re lucky to have each other on their rise to fame.
Talking about their close relationship in an interview, the Twisters actor admitted, “[Getting recognized] is funny. Whenever me and Paul go out anywhere together, which is… we’re best friends. We met on Normal People when no one knew who we were.
“So it is still so strange to us when we walk down Glastonbury [festival] and everyone’s like, ‘Oh my god!’”
Edgar-Jones went on to say they have a “good crew, a good gang”.
“I think the thing is, because Paul’s so grounded and normal, and all my friends are, and Andrew [Garfield] is too, you’re able to let it just wash over you, and enjoy the parts of it that are fun,” she explained. “And sort of ignore the bits that are surreal, if you know what I mean.”
Daisy Edgar-Jones accepted latest role while with Paul Mescal
Edgar-Jones is currently starring in London’s West End in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
And although she previously revealed that Mescal has some words of encouragement to give before she took on the role, Edgar-Jones has now revealed they were actually together when she accepted the job!
“Actually, I was with Paul when I got the call for the job. I got a call on my birthday, saying, ‘Would you like to play Maggie?’” she smiled. “I was in Ireland, I was in Cork for the film festival there.”
Edgar-Jones continued, “It was really special because I’d been wanting to go back to the Almeida. The last play I did was there – just before Covid, just before Normal People came out. So it feels really full circle to be back here again, five years later, taking on a role like Maggie, with a director like Rebecca [Frecknall], in that space. It’s really magical.”
While she initially had her worries about everything that had changed since she was last on that particular stage, Edgar-Jones learned to cope with the “pressure”.
“Stepping out on that stage again when I was doing my first warm up, I really was brought back to five years ago when I did a play called Albion at the Almeida, and it was just before lockdown – just before my life really changed. Everyone’s did during Covid – but mine changed in the way that I became well known,” she admitted.
“So I was really like, ‘Gosh, what a funny thing. People will come to this play with a different expectation of me, and there is a lot more pressure, and how have I changed, and have I?’ And honestly, I stood there going, ‘I haven’t changed. I’m still who I was when I was on this stage five years ago. I’m just a bit older, a bit more weathered.’”
Paul Mescal has ‘tearful’ dinner with Gracie Abrams
While many have longed for Edgar-Jones and Mescal, 28, to follow in the footsteps of their Normal People characters and strike up a romantic relationship – with eagle-eyed fans even noticing that the Gladiator II star has a tattoo dedicated to his friend – they have never been anything more than just pals (to our knowledge, anyway).
However, Mescal appeared to be having relationship issues this week with current girlfriend, Gracie Abrams.
While he has been dating the singer, 25, since June last year, the pair were reportedly spotted having a tearful dinner in a London restaurant.
“They were sitting at a table opposite each other and Paul had his head in his hands as Gracie just sat there crying,” an onlooker revealed. “She was crying so much that he then started to cry too.
“She eventually got up and walked out of the restaurant while they were halfway through their meal and he was left to pay the bill before leaving shortly afterwards.”
They added, “Everyone saw it all go down, it looked like a break-up, we were just shocked at how public it all was.”
Mescal and Abrams are yet to officially confirm if they have broken up.
