Natalie Portman clarifies Paul Mescal pub photos: “I’m in awe of his talent”

Natalie Portman has discussed photos where she was seen outside a pub with Paul Mescal.

The two stars were recently spotted enjoying cigarettes and having a laugh together in London, which went viral online and led to speculation they could be dating. However, the Oscar-winner has now set the record straight on their relationship, confirming that she and Mescal are just friends.

“I’m very in awe of his talent,” she told The Guardian in a new interview.

The pair previously took part in a Variety Actors on Actors interview last year, where Mescal opened up about his acclaimed film All Of Us Strangers.

Meanwhile, earlier this year Portman suggested that film as a primary form of entertainment was on the “decline”, with YouTubers more famous than movie stars.

“The striking thing has been the decline of film as a primary form of entertainment. It feels much more niche now,” she told Vanity Fair. “If you ask someone my kids’ age about movie stars, they don’t know anyone compared to YouTube stars, or whatever.

“There’s a liberation to it, in having your art not be a popular art. You can really explore what’s interesting to you. It becomes much more about passion than about commerce. And interesting, too, to beware of it becoming something elitist.

“I think all of these art forms, when they become less popularised, you have to start being like, OK, who are we making this for anymore?”

Back in January, Portman also spoke about method acting, admitting it was a “luxury women can’t afford”.

“I don’t think that children or partners would be very understanding of, you know, me making everyone call me ‘Jackie Kennedy’ all the time,” she told The Wall Street Journal.

“No matter the circumstances of a woman’s life, whether she’s very privileged or underprivileged, the uniting factor is the limits placed by society on what women can be, how they can behave, what they’re allowed to say and think and feel and do. So every woman’s story is trying to break free of [that].”

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