Paul Mescal is showing Hollywood how to be a modern movie star

Paul Mescal didn’t chase stardom — he redefined it. With restraint and honesty, he’s changing what leading men look like

Paul Mescal during "The History of Sound" photocall at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2025, in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

ONCE upon a time, movie stars lived in the clouds. They arrived on red carpets like gods descending from Olympus, cloaked in mystique, their charm filtered through decades of studio polish and publicist precision.

We didn’t know them, not really, and that was the point. They were larger than life, basically untouchable. You couldn’t imagine Tom Cruise queuing for a sandwich, or Julia Roberts dragging her wheelie bin down a laneway on a dank Tuesday morning.