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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Sandra Mallon

Paul Mescal fumes after being groped by fan while posing for a picture with her

Paul Mescal has opened up about his anger after a fan groped him while he posed for a photo.

The Kildare native had been outside London's Almeida Theatre, where he was starring in A Streetcar Named Desire.

"As we posed for it, she put her hand on my ass," he told ES Magazine.

READ MORE: Popular Cork influencer shows injuries following alleged assault in city

"I thought it was an accident, so I like [moved away]. But the hand followed. I remember tensing up and feeling just, like, fury."

Asked what he did next, Mescal replied: "I turned to her and said, 'What're you doing? Take your hand off my ass'."

He told the newspaper that calling somebody out in front of the theatre was "the last thing I want to do", saying: "It's uncomfortable for everyone involved.

"But it was really not OK. It was so gross, creepy."

He added that 97% of fame so far was "really nice" but the other 3% was "somebody, like, grabbing your ass".

In another interview, the star also admitted his rumoured break up from singer Phoebe Bridgers is still too difficult to talk about.

The 27-year-old Oscar-nominee is featured on the cover of the latest edition of The Hollywood Reporter and opened up about the end of his romance with musician Bridgers, 28.

Paul Mescal in a shoot for ES Magazine (Steve Harnacke/ES Magazine)

When asked if he will ever touch on the subject of their split, Mescal said: “Maybe at some point. But just not now. It’s just difficult territory. Yeah.”

The pair have yet to address rumours of their split publicly – but last week the Kildare native did urge people to “shut the f**k up” about talking about his relationship status.

“Sometimes I can drown it out and then other times it makes me really mad and upset,” he told the latest issue of Vanity Fair.

“People are going to write and say things because there’s a certain interest with any person who’s in the public eye in how that person lives their life, and who they’re living up with, and what they’re doing and how they’re going about doing it.

“And look, a lot of the time people are really kind about their support for me. That’s my predominant experience.

“I definitely feel the temptation to say the status of my whatever—that will always be there. But I don’t think that’s a wise thing to do.

“When Normal People came out, I was very forthright in interviews, and it didn’t actually serve me. But the temptation still exists to be like, ‘Shut the f**k up. This is my life. This is what’s going on. Or this is what’s going on.’

“But moving forward as much as I can, that’s going to be my life that is private. That’s a difficult thing to achieve. But giving strangers an answer about my life doesn’t actually help me.

“It’s like a quick boost of serotonin, being like, ‘I’ve said what I need to say’ And then it’s just Twitter fodder.”

Mescal also told the Hollywood Reporter how he feels the Irish are punching above their weight as he hopes for a “fun” Oscars after party next month.

The Maynooth star has been nominated for Best Actor and is up against fellow Irishman Colin Farrell at the prestigious awards.

“I’m hoping that the Oscars afterparties are going to be fun," he said. "Because I think the Irish can show up in that setting,” he told the publication.

On the country's astounding number of nominations this year he said, “I feel like we’ve always overrepresented ourselves.

"In terms of population, we’re punching above our weight.”

He has also been announced as part of the cast of Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, which will be shot over the next two decades, allowing the cast to age in real-time, and has filmed a sci-fi thriller, Foe, with Saoirse Ronan.

“If I could work every day, every hour, I would.

"I get itchy when I’m not working. I know at some point I’ll get tired and burn out for a little bit, but I don’t feel that now.”

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