On the Podcast: Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor on Adele, Fan Letters, and Learning to Pose on the Red Carpet

I could be wrong on this, but four cheeky chaps.

But I m your cheeky chap.

Oh, you re my cheeky chap.

Hi Vogue, I m Chloe Malle.

I m Marley Marius.

And we are filming a very special episode

of The Run-Through.

We are here with the stars of the new film,

The History of Sound. Welcome, gentlemen.

I m Paul Mescal.

My name s Josh O Connor.

And together! [chuckles]

Together we have weird hands.

Well I have to say, Marley and I went to a screening

of the film last week and it was one of those

midtown screening rooms where it s all

grumpy film critics and we were both

sobbing at the end and it was not really

the vibe of the rest of the room.

They were kind of like, You guys good?.

[everyone laughs]

When did you two meet?

Because I heard there was a a nice meet-cute

about when you first met each other over Zoom.

Yeah. During lockdown,

I watched, as we all did, Normal People

and loved it.

Paul and I share an agent in America

and I reached out to him, reached out to my agent

[ladies laugh] and said, Can I-

There s this kid. There s this, yeah.

Actually I did! Did you say, This kid?

Have I told you this? I think this did happen.

This may be, I ve imagined.

Just you smoking a cigar in the back,

There s this kid, there s this kid.

You were real excited.

No, but I think-

You gotta get him in the picture.

I do think I messaged, I think that s how

I found out that we had the same agent.

I wrote to my agent to say, I ve just watched this thing,

Normal People and this guy is incredible.

And he was like, yeah, we know. [all laughing]

Anyway but I said I d love to talk to him

and so then we had a Zoom. Yeah.

And it was-

What did you think when you were told that?

This elder actor who s calling you a kid.

There was this elder statesman of the industry.

I watched, my father had watched him on stage

for many moons. Many moons.

For many moons.

Laurence Olivier wants to Zoom!

Yeah, yeah. No, it s Josh.

He s my great grandfather s favorite actor. It s crazy.

[laughing]

I was a long admirer of Josh. Long, long, long!

I m not that old!

No, I d seen, it was in either in second year

or third year of drama school,

I saw God s Own Country and I was blown away.

Blown away by it and still am whenever,

I ve seen that film three times

and I think it s such staggering work.

So when he reached out, and I think it s also,

it s a testament to who he is.

And I think we share this feeling where it s like,

it s an industry that can be typically quite competitive,

but I ve always felt that, I m highly competitive

but it s always felt redundant to me in this industry.

Because it s totally subjective.

It makes it all a lot more palatable

if you can admire somebody else s work

and not be in competition.

And I felt that off Josh straight away.

You know, we have a friendship outside of this industry,

but when it comes to, you know, a lot of

what we talk about is we both have

very similar tastes in filmmakers and movies,

in performances and actors.

One of the exciting things about working

with any actor truthfully is just

witnessing how someone else works.

And I just remember saying like, I m so excited to see

how Paul does it, you know, with Paul specifically.

Like something of Paul is left behind in that character.

And that was interesting to me.

But I think because of that and because of

the subject matter of this film and how moving

the film is but how deep those

feelings of love and grief are,

we actually found ourselves being very light with it.

And by light, I mean cheeky chaps!

Cheeky chaps. Couple of cheeky chaps.

Couple of cheeky chaps.

In terms of fun and levity,

that three weeks that we were together

was the height of that for me. Yeah.

Across my entire career and it s weird

because the film was so painful, or to me

that relationship is the centre point of somebody s life

The truth is- Well it s very elegiac.

Yeah, yeah.

It s not cheeky.

It s not a cheeky, couple of cheeky chaps.

Those two are famously not cheeky chaps.

[laughing]

But I guess the reason it s so painful

is because the time they have together is so joyful.

Yeah, totally. So it was okay that it was.

I was wondering what it was like preparing for these roles

and how you even began that process.

We came across this film at the same time in 2020

so it s been like five years.

[Chloe And Marley] Wow.

Preparation always kind of varies for me

from project to project but this

is just kind of like a lot of time spent

in a hotel room looking at the script

and trying to, this wasn t one

where there was like a specific skill.

Like it wasn t horse riding or sword fighting

or learning how to, obviously the dialect

and the singing is one thing,

but it was a lot of time kind of just spent

on your own, thinking about this man s life

and what David meant to him.

You know, in normal circumstances,

maybe there s a year of, this time next year

I m gonna be making that movie.

And so it s kind of percolating,

oftentimes while you re doing other projects.

And then as it comes closer, there s really a sort of,

or for me anyway, there s, in an ideal world, like

a two to three month period before the film

where your sole focus is on prepping this character.

By the time we got to November, December,

just before we started filming in January,

I just remember being like, looking at the script,

sitting down with the script and feeling

like it was all there already.

Yeah, similarly, you d sit and be like,

oh, I know these people.

I m not worried about getting onto set

and being confronted with questions and not having answers.

What was your relationship to folk music like

before this film? Is that something?

I mean, obviously neither of you

are from Northeastern America.

But how did you approach that

and was that something that felt familiar?

There s lots of similar similarities, to my ear,

to Irish music and the kind of sean-nós singing

that you hear in Irish pubs, there s a lot of

that kind of tone so I love that kind of music.

I was a big fan of folk music for a long time, so I guess

it wasn t that much of a stretch in that way.

Did you already know the piano?

Because you play the piano a bit in it.

I did not know how to play the piano.

I knew how to play one Adele song.

Which one? Set Fire To The Rain?

Must be Set Fire To The Rain.

[singing] I set fire! I think it is!

I think it s that one. That s angsty Josh.

[singing] Yeah, yeah. To the rain!

[singing] To the rain!

[speaking] On my own.

[humming] It s the one that goes- [humming]

No, that s not Set Fire To The Rain.

[singing] Someone like you.

[singing] All that I had.

That s not an Adele song, is it?

Is that Adele?

[Crew Member] It s turning tables, I think.

Turning tables! I knew how to play that song.

Oh, actually a section of that song.

The chorus. And so then, I learnt for this.

What s on your Spotify right now?

What s on my Spotify right now,

an artist called Jake Minch, do you know?

[Marley] What genre is this?

Is like folk-y, singer songwriter style.

He s amazing, he s like 21 from LA and an amazing lyricist.

Yeah. What about you? Adele?

Adele.

No. I ve just heard this song

Someone Like You, have you heard of it?

Have you heard of it?

I ve been revisiting a lot of my teenage indie years.

Say more. Say more.

And diving back into, like, Beirut.

Oh, And Laura Marling.

We were just talking about Laura Marling

because I wrote her a love letter when I was 16.

Two from two. Did she reply?

She did not.

What did you say in your love letter?

I can t remember what I said.

It s so crazy, he s brought it up

in the last two interviews, brought this up.

And also like, happy to talk about it!

Clearly. So delighted.

I m just like, just give me that chance.

Been waiting for someone to bring this up!

You don t even need to say say more to Josh.

Yeah. Well they pressed me.

They pressed me. They twisted my arm.

I think it was along the lines of like,

your music means a lot to me and here s a leaf.

And I pushed, pressed a sort of autumnal leaf.

Oh my God. Oh wow!

That was not the reaction I was hoping for,

Hopefully Laura didn t have the same reaction.

Oh my god, that s so tender. I think it s sweet.

It s so tender. It s so tender.

Shockingly tender, almost.

Shockingly, that s what it was, it was a shock.

Guys, can I just say, I was 16.

Okay. That actually is better.

That s better.

It wasn t like a couple of years back.

It wasn t like last year.

Well obviously, you and Laura.

But it could have been, but Laura if you re watching!

[laughing]

Paul do you play any instruments?

He does now. I do now.

No, I played a little bit of piano,

but I m obviously learning music for the Beatles.

Beatles. Hell yeah.

Hell yeah.

How is that music learning process going?

It s great, like, Paul McCartney s famously left-handed.

I m not left-handed so that s a challenge.

I assume it s healthy for my brain

to be learning something left-handed.

Is there a Beatles group chat already?

There is a Beatles group chat, yeah.

Is there, is it named after a Beatles album, or?

Has it got a really boring title?

[Marley] Beatles chat. Yeah. Beatles chat.

I m pretty sure it s called Four Cheeky Chaps.

I would feel so betrayed if it was,

I d be so betrayed.

Not there with the cheeky chaps now.

I could be wrong on this but four cheeky chaps.

But I m your cheeky chap!

No, you re my cheeky chap.

What is your number one Paul McCartney song?

[Chloe] Oh, it changes. Okay.

All the time. At the moment I m obsessed with Michelle.

Josh, what s your Beatles song of choice?

Turning Tables. [all laughing]

It s Turning Tables. That s theirs, right?

No, While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

[Chloe] That s a great one. Yes.

You re quite creative in other ways.

A ceramicist, yes? Well.

He is a ceramicist.

Potter. Harry Potter.

I would say, Harry Potter!

The boy who lived! Time to die.

So revealing. Are you a ceramicist?

Just a Harry Potter fan. [laughing]

No, no, just I like the films.

No, no, no, let me correct you on that.

It s been a huge misunderstanding.

I don t know where we went wrong, but here s where.

Yeah, I like making pots,

but I m certainly not a ceramicist.

I was very charmed in Gabby Woods lovely profile

she wrote for Vogue that you described

your background as being an inherited hippie

and that now you re gardening a lot and beekeeping.

What are you growing at the moment at home?

Okay. Good question. At the moment

I ve just had a good crop of courgettes,

what do you call courgettes? Zucchini.

Zucchini. Rhubarb. I ve got two very brilliant fig trees.

Ooh.

Really produced this year because we had mad heatwaves.

Okay.

They really, really produced this year guys.

They really did. They came in great.

They came in with 200% over the quota that I was expecting.

They had too many. Yeah, that s what I ve got.

[laughing] And flowers.

Josh is the oldest soul that I know.

Actually we ve already discussed that,

a long, long time ago. Yeah, it s true.

No, but it s so gorgeous, the privilege

of being in Josh s home in the countryside last year.

And I was like, it s just Josh in a nutshell.

It s just in the garden, gorgeous pots and little ceramics

and yeah, you re a happy boy

when you re in that environment.

We went swimming In the lake.

It was so nice. It was so lovely

Paul, I feel like there s been a lot

of discussion on the internet about

how Josh loves Ratatouille and sort of

has a great sensibility of Ratatouille.

If you were an animated character.

Stop! Why are you looking at me like that?

I don t know.

Josh just looked at me like this.

First of all, I didn t know this.

You didn t even react. Because it was weird!

Talking about Ratatouille and I didn t know

and Josh was looking at me like this.

They got that right!

First of all I didn t know this,

but I m curious about it now.

I m so glad to share this.

Does it make sense to you though? Is it connected?

Yeah, does that make sense

that I would love Ratatouille?

Like, what am I missing here?

There s sort of a, I mean Remy has

a great joie de vivre about him

and he would make rhubarb pie.

It s sort of, yeah. Paul,

what Disney character would you be?

I feel like it s hard, I can t prescribe

a character to myself like that.

[Chloe] Mm. Josh?

Oh, I have one for him.

[Chloe] Okay, good. Ooh, let s hear it.

This is niche. Of course.

But you know the dog in Up.

Yes. I love that dog. Oh!

That s you.

I like that. I ll take that. Thank you very much.

[Marley] Jolly, smart. Perfect.

I wanna ask about the red carpet mastery

that both of you seem to enjoy.

You both, I mean, I do feel like it s nice

when people seem like they re having fun

getting dressed up because not everyone does.

Is this something that s evolved over time

or have you always loved dressing up?

If you had seen the clothes I would wear

in secondary school, it s definitely evolved.

I think we re, not to speak on your behalf,

I feel very lucky to work with, I work with Felicity Kay

and I talk to other actors who are friends

and sometimes they feel an obligation

or that they re put in clothes

and I feel very much the opposite.

It s a really important thing because

then you just end up feeling like

you re on some sort of parade the whole time.

It s also, it s like a balance because

those events are sort of like, they re really tricky.

Because ultimately I think people think

that actors are like, that they enjoy

that spotlight and those events

and those things. Yeah.

A lot of the time we re hiding behind

these characters and so it can feel

quite exposing being yourself in a weird way.

And so the advantage of having,

whilst it s also creatively kind of fun

and interesting to sort of like put something together

with Harry or Felicity or, it s also about-

Curating it.

Curating a character that isn t necessarily you.

And that can be quite- Yeah.

Quite a lifeline actually in those situations.

Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah.

Do you guys feel like you have

an alter ego on the red carpet?

[Both] Yeah. Linguine?

Linguine and Dog from up.

No, because it s so, I always cringe. Sorry.

Yeah. When you see the videos

of the photographs being taken, some people are

so good at having a picture taken.

I don t think I m great at having my picture taken.

So when I see a video of a picture get taken.

Do you wanna know this is really bad.

It s shocking. And you see them,

you see the actors lock in and they re like,

do you know when they do that mini two step

Can I stand up and do it? Yeah. Yeah.

This thing that people do, do you know,

they re standing and then they just start moving.

Like, do you know that like shuffle.

It s the little shuffle. It s awful.

Whenever you watch an award show

and it s being filmed I feel so bad for you

Oh. Because you re seeing it.

You re not supposed to see how the sausage is made.

When we were doing, we had

the Challengers premiere in London

and it s the first time I d had

one of those big premieres, Leicester Square,

big billboards and all this stuff.

And then my family, I invited my family to come.

Oh boy. So I m getting out the car

and there s that bit where there s a wall of photographers.

Yeah it s insane.

And I was stood in front of the wall

of photographers doing that.

Trying to do, like-

Trying to get into positions, trying to get comfy.

Yeah. And they re like, can you give us something else?

And you re like, not really.

Like a little smile and it was awful

Finger guns. Yeah.

And there s just all the noise

and flashing photography and everything

and then I caught sight of my parents and my brothers

and something about seeing my family

in this environment which felt like a threat.

And then seeing my beautiful, gorgeous family

who are like beautiful, kind, soulful people.

I was just like [crying noise] and then

they re photographing me as I m weeping.

[Chloe laughing]

I was like this. [crying noise] and there s

photographs of me just with tears in my eyes.

And they also, it s very shouty.

It s very shouty.

It s more shouty in America.

The British are, oh in America it s worse?

Way worse, yeah. Interesting.

Way shoutier. First and only time

I went to the Met, you re in that famous queue

before you go out and you re just watching it.

I was like, I think I m gonna die.

Like I think I m gonna die and you re getting close

and you zigzag your way up the carpet.

Paul, you re up. And I was like, right.

I thought, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.

The first time I went to the Met

You obviously, people work so hard

to make these outfits that are like,

and the whole point of the people

making these outfits is to get

that photograph on the stairs.

I m waiting. You know this? Yeah.

I ve heard it, it is good.

I m waiting in the line.

Just standing there, standing there.

I see an entrance, some steps.

And they go, okay, Josh, off you go.

I went, thanks very much.

Straight up the stairs, straight in,

in I go, I m like, this is brilliant.

So I m walking around, look at the exhibition.

I checked my phone like 15 missed calls

being like, what happened?

I just, I didn t get a single photograph

the whole and then it was a disaster

and then I left early and it was just awful.

That was my first time and all that,

months of work and I just didn t realize.

They got photos in the end.

Well they said go back out and I was like, I couldn t.

Oh my God. So then they managed

to get someone to come in and take a picture.

And you went.

Yeah. Shuffle, shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle. Yeah.

But I do wanna ask Paul about your shorts.

Is this something you ve always worn?

Thank you for that question, honestly.

Thank God.

Thank God I was waiting. Yes.

I don t consider them, they are the shorts

that I wore from the age of seven,

not the same shorts, but that, Gaelic football shorts,

that s just what Irish boys tend to wear.

They re always the shorts that I just wanna wear.

Oh, great. Gotta be you.

All right, we are going to play

a game of would you rather.

If you had the choice to never listen to music

ever again or only listen to one song

over and over, what would it be?

One song over and over.

Never listen to music ever again?

Oh yeah. One song. Yeah, one song.

What song?

That s where it gets tough.

Gotta choose a long one, haven t you?

Mm. Bohemian Rhapsody.

Oh. Imagine that one over and over again.

Imagine that.

[singing] I see a little silhouette-o of a man!

[singing] You d go mad. Scaramouche!

I m just gonna, because it s in my head.

And she s featured heavily today,

Laura Marling, I m gonna go for You Know, Laura Marling.

Yeah. Nice. Mine would be Galleon Ship by Nick Cave.

Mm. Or Turning Tables.

[Marley] Or turning tables.

Why would I need that? I can play it on the piano.

Minimalism or maximalism.

Minimalism. Or?

[Both] Maximalism.

I find like minimalism in interior design

a little bit like [snoring sound] snooze.

Yeah but maximalism.

Is there like a medium-alism?

There you go. [laughing]

Custom tailoring or off the rack?

Off the rack. If you find like an old vintage suit.

True. Oh my goodness.

I m gonna say custom tailoring.

Yeah. That s fair.

Yeah. Sweet or salty?

Salty. Salty.

Oh, interesting.

No, why did I say that? That s not true.

Jolly Ranchers. Jolly Ranchers.

I m gonna go sweet. Yeah.

For me. Salty. Yeah.

The ideal is- Sweet and salty.

What s that Nature Valley? Oh.

Oh that s good. Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

With the cinnamon toast crunch Nature Valley.

Cinnamon almond butter. Yeah.

That one. Oh, okay, yeah.

Yeah, that would convert me to sweet.

Mouth watering. Right now.

Right now? Yeah.

Red carpet or after party? After party.

Who wants to be on a red carpet?

Red carpets are stressful.

Yeah, definitely after party.

Well, as we ve just heard.

Imagine we were like, after shitting on red carpets.

We re like yeah, red carpet.

I love a red carpet.

Would you rather have your sock

falling off inside your shoe or your pants

falling down because they re too big?

This is a crazy question.

That is an insane question.

I would not want my trousers falling down.

Yeah, no. No thank you.

I don t want my socks to fall.

Socks. Socks, yeah, socks.

A hundred percent.

Pants that are slightly too short

or sleeves that are slightly too long.

Oh, I ve got a real, it s a real bug bear for me.

[Chloe] This cropped trouser thing. Mm.

I like a cropped trouser depending on

the crop and what else you re wearing it with.

It s just like, okay, so I actually

like cropped trousers on other people.

It s just that for me it s like everywhere,

It doesn t matter where you look now,

They re everywhere. They re everywhere.

There is an epidemic.

What happened just to, like a pair

of jeans that reach your shoe.

The old reach the shoe days. What happened to that?

See what I mean about the old soul thing?

I remember the days when people wore trousers!

Right down to your ankles!

When pants were a proper length!

I just want it to get to the shoe and leave it!

Thank you so much. This was such a treat.

Thanks for having us.

Good luck on your epic day

and thank you for visiting The Run-Through.

Thank you very much. Thank you guys.

Yeah, I actually wanna see how you do a red carpet.

Okay. I m gonna-

Now I think it s like, I like to just pop a that.

You pop a one in front.

If you stand like that. Yeah that s crazy.

That s mad. Normal. Red carpet.

Incredible. Many from so little.

You ever do a hands in your pocket?

Check this out. Yeah, check this.

All right, Josh, Josh, Josh!

[Marley] Yeah? Ooh!

I d always go hands in pockets.

So you walk up to the mark

and then you step back on the mark.

[All] Oh. I do it every time.

So rad.

But wait, wait, show. Can you show the feet?

So this is my mark.

I go up, you go past the mark

and then you kind of just land.

[Paul] Same product. Same end point.

In the end it s the same.

[Paul] We just got there different ways.

We ve just got a different process.

Yeah. Different process and yeah.

[all laughing]

[piano music]