Paul Mescal receives apology from BBC for getting nationality wrong

Paul Mescal has received an apology from the BBC after they got the Irish actor’s nationality wrong.

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The actor has been nominated for Actor in a Leading Role in this year’s Academy Awards. However, during the broadcaster’s coverage of the 2023 Oscar nominations text appeared on the screen proclaiming Mescal as British.

The text read: “2023 Oscar nominations: British actors Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are nominated for leading role.” The Normal People star was in fact born in the Republic of Ireland, so is unequivocally not British.

The BBC has now apologised for the mistake, writing in a statement (which can be read here): “In text running across the screen we reported that Paul Mescal was one of two British actors who had been nominated for an Oscar for a leading role. The text should have said that Paul Mescal is Irish. We apologise for the mistake.”

Mescal has been nominated for the prestigious acting award alongside for new film Aftersun. Other actors in the running are Austin Butler for Elvis, Brendan Fraser for The Whale, Bill Nighy for Living, and Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin.

Mescal has been an actor on the rise for a while now, but the nomination for Aftersun is just another nod towards his prodigious talent. He recently received rave reviews for his performance on stage in A Streetcar Named Desire. His performance as Stanley has been called “horribly good”, with reviews praising his “dangerous energy in the role as well as his “natural” presence on stage.

Meanwhile, the Oscars has seen itself making controversial headlines as Till director Chinonye Chukwu criticised the Academy over its seeming “misogyny towards Black women” in the wake of its 2023 nominations.

Chukwu’s comments came after the biopic Till — which tells the real-life story of Mamie Till-Mobley as she fought for justice for her son, Emmett Till, after he was lynched in 1955 — received no nominations in any Academy Award category this year.

The post Paul Mescal receives apology from BBC for getting nationality wrong appeared first on NME.