Paul Mescal opens up about how he felt shooting Normal People sex scenes

Mescal has been named one this year’s GQ Men of the Year

Normal People star Paul Mescal has opened up about how he and co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones were made to feel safe when shooting the series’ sex scenes.

Mescal – who found fame as Connell in the BBC hit series – shared his experience on set with GQ after he was named one of the publication’s Men of the Year for 2020.

To celebrate his win, the actor watched a replay of Normal People’s final episode while speaking to the camera and dissecting some of its most memorable moments.

Speaking about the sex scenes, he said: “We had an intimacy coordinator who was amazing and ultimately I think the scenes look really true and organic."

Intimacy co-ordinators are now commonplace on TV and film shoots where nudity or sexual content is involved. The co-ordinators work to ensure the safety, dignity and agency of the actors involved.

Adaptation of Sally Rooney’s love story stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones

The 24-year-old continued: “The main thing is that me and Daisy felt safe because we had an amazing crew and an amazing set of directors on this.

“It just gave us the opportunity to make something that felt like two young people in a really healthy relationship.”

Cringing at watching his own sex scenes, the Irish star added: “It’s not nice to watch – for me – but it’s nice to be involved in something that I’m really proud of and that the world gets to see it’s not something to be ashamed of.”

Normal People – a BBC adaptation of the novel by Sally Rooney – was critically lauded for its portrayal of young love. 

The series also attracted a lot of attention for its sexual content. Some viewers accused the scenes of being “immoral”, however, many people applauded them as being honest on-screen representations of sex. 

Earlier this year, the series’ intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien spoke candidly about how its sexually explicit scenes were filmed, including the use of a “modesty pouch” and a “safe word”.

As the scene continued to roll on-screen, Mescal joked about his discomfort in watching himself. “That is a long 30 seconds,” said the actor.

Normal People received four Emmy nominations this year, including an Outstanding Lead Actor nod for Mescal.