Before Gladiator 2, See How Spectacular Paul Mescal Is In This Hulu Miniseries

Before long, the world will get to see Paul Mescal's performance in Ridley Scott's highly-anticipated, long-simmering sequel "Gladiator II" as Lucius Verus, son of the original film's protagonist Maximus (Russell Crowe). If you're unfamiliar with Mescal's game, though, you might want to prepare for "Gladiator II" by watching the actor's incredible breakout role in the miniseries "Normal People," based on Sally Rooney's bestselling second novel.

"Normal People" became a huge pop culture phenomenon when it hit Hulu in the spring of 2020 — by pure chance, it ended up coming out just as the entire world entered quarantine thanks to the COVID-19 virus, leaving people to watch a whole lot of TV at home — and the series absolutely put Mescal and his co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones on the map. (Edgar-Jones, like Mescal, has been working steadily since appearing in the Irish series; she recently led "Twisters" with Glen Powell.) 

Mescal ultimately earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a limited series and won trophies for his performance at the Irish Film & TV Awards and the British Academy Television Awards. So who does he play in "Normal People?" What has he been doing since, and what other accolades has he picked up along the way?

"Normal People" tells the story of a decades-long, slow-burn romance between Paul Mescal's Connell Waldron and Daisy Edgar-Jones' Marianne Sheridan, who meet at secondary school in the small Irish town of County Sligo and begin a secret relationship. (Marianne comes from a wealthy family and Connell's mother, Sarah Greene's Lorraine Waldron, works as a cleaning woman at the Sheridan estate, creating an automatic class divide between the two.) Hampered by the (likely mistaken) idea that their classmates would harshly judge their relationship, Connell and Marianne keep the entire thing a secret — which, as you might suspect, blows up in both of their faces as secondary school comes to a close.

The two eventually reunite when they both end up attending the prestigious Trinity College in Dublin, where their roles are reversed; Marianne, who was unpopular in secondary school, has a ton of friends, while the once-popular Connell struggles to find his place. A ton transpires between the two — Connell moves back to County Sligo while Marianne has a series of genuinely unhealthy relationships with unkind men — but by the end of the series, it actually seems like the two lovebirds might have figured everything out after all. "Normal People" always keeps the audience on its toes, though, so you'll have to watch it for yourself to see exactly where Connell and Marianne end up. As for Mescal, though, the series gave his career an incredible boost, and he went on to work on a series of critical darlings.

After starring in "Normal People" and racking up a handful of awards and nominations, Paul Mescal hit the ground running — and his turn in the miniseries led to a ton of incredible film roles. In 2021, Mescal played a supporting role in the drama "The Lost Daughter," working with director Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-stars Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson on an adaptation of Elena Ferrante's 2006 novel; one year later, he led Charlotte Wells' intimate family drama "Aftersun," which launched him firmly into Hollywood's A-list. The movie earned Mescal an Oscar and a BAFTA nomination thanks to his searing, heartbreaking performance as single father Calum Patterson, who brings his young daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a trip to Turkey to try and repair their relationship after he separates from Sophie's mother. 

Mescal spent time in London in 2022 working on a production of Tennessee Williams' famous play "A Streetcar Named Desire" — which netted him a Laurence Olivier Award for his turn as the brutish Stanley Kowalski — and the following year, he co-starred in two films: Andrew Haigh's "All of Us Strangers" alongside Andrew Scott and Garth Davis' sci-fi thriller "Foe." The latter didn't earn great reviews, but "All of Us Strangers" was yet another blockbuster turn for Mescal, whose affecting portrayal of a troubled young man named Harry earned him his second BAFTA nod. Meanwhile, "Gladiator II" releases on November 22, so you definitely have time to binge "Normal People" — and any of Mescal's other incredible projects — before it hits theaters.