The Paul Mescal guide to London: where to spot the actor in his short-shorts this summer

Yes he’s a Gucci ambassador, yes he’s coming to a big screen near you soon as the incredibly ripped new Gladiator, but Paul Mescal? He’s still just a normal person when it comes to how he spends his free time. Well, a normal late-20s hipster who makes most female late-20s hipsters audibly shriek whenever he’s spotted in the wild — which is a lot.

He may be Irish, but having settled in the city in 2020 (a time when he delighted fans with his ritual of running around London parks in his short-shorts) he’s become a bona fide London boy. And he’s proved he has pretty good taste when it comes to his favourite haunts, from dive pubs to members’ club. Most recently, he’s been spotted at Michelin-star BRAT — in fact, on the same weekend as he attended the Glastonbury Charli XCX set... It seems he’s taking those calls for a Brat summer literally.

If you want to live your London life à la Paul (and it’s highly possible you could run into him seeing as he’s got a while before his Gladiator promo tour will kick off); we’ve done the sleuthing so you don’t have to. Here’s how to summer like the Normal People star.

Whisky sours at hipster pubs

While he appeared in A Street Car Named Desire last year at the Almeida Theatre in N1, The Old Queen’s Head seemed to become Paul’s local. Rumours swirled that it was where the County Kildare lad went to try his luck of the Irish, leading a journalist from The Fence to infiltrate a night to see if she could find him on the pull there. She didn’t, but he’s still said to be a regular.

Even if Paul isn’t there, the pub still offers good times in the form of a very silly Tuesday night quiz, friday night DJ sets, and a decent burger menu. Paul has previously said his favourite drink is a Whisky Sour, which the venue serves with Japanese whisky.

Also on the list of boozers where Paul has been sneakily captured by fellow punters for TikTok or by paps, are East London hipster favourite The Spurstowe Arms near London Fields, and The Cavendish in Marylebone, where he was seen with a mystery woman last year.

Small plate date nights

Some argue the small plate trend is dead, but Paul is clearly still advocating for sharing — and his restaurant of choice is BRAT, the Michelin-star Spanish restaurant in Shoreditch. Most recently he was seen there with singer Gracie Abrams, with TMZ reporting that they ordered a bunch of its popular dishes to share.

The All of Us Strangers star has previously been quoted saying he loves the anchovies with bread and butter, so add that to your order. Though be warned — it’s notoriously hard to book a table at BRAT, even now there’s a second outpost in London Fields’ Climpson’s Arches.

Smoke breaks at a bougie bars

Vaping? So last year. Cigs are officially back in 2024 and even during his Gladiator training Paul was partial. He told Esquire while he was getting ripped for the movie last year that he’d “set the tone early with Tim [his trainer],” telling him “I smoke and drink and that’s not going to change.” So yes, he has to step outside and find a good stoop once in a while. And given he was not-so-long-ago papped having a cig with none other than Natalie Portman at 69 Colebrooke Row in Islington, who’s to say he won’t be there again ready to share a light?

The speakeasy style cocktail bar named after its address was once known as The Bar With No Name and has a reputation for serving top tier cocktails at speed. So it’s worth a visit for the mixology alone. Whisky sours all round!

Raving like a not-so-normal person

Paul has been spotted at Camden’s KOKO several times. Party people have seen him join the throngs on the main dance floor for a gig in the past, though you’ll mostly find him in the members’ club, House of KOKO. He has been photographed attending events including his sister Nell’s EP launch a few months ago, and he and his castmates celebrated the last night of Streetcar Named Desire at the venue after warming up at the Groucho Club.

Our source tells us that of the many rooms in the maze-like club, Paul can usually be found holding court in the cosy booths in The Vinyl Room, a hidden space with personal bartenders.

When he does fancy a sweaty night of fun rubbing shoulders with normals, the 28-year-old has also been known to get lost in the music at Shacklewell Arms, the dingy venue in Dalston with a regular 80’s night.

Jaunts in short-shorts

During lockdown, Paul was regularly spotted in his favourite thigh-skimming Gaelic football shorts and Adidas trainers — sans top — running around East London and Hyde Park. And more recently, rumours around his dating antics have inspired his fans to take up running too. To explain: his good guy reputation has been a little marred by a string of TikToks claiming he has a habit of sprinting away from women the morning after the night before, after he invites them to take a walk at the park. Mescal hasn’t responded to these rumours, and no first hand accounts have come out, but it has seen the phrase ‘Mescal marathon’ coined — suggesting his fans should use the possibility of a park date with Paul as running inspiration.

Of course, he does move slower as well. He recently told Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg, “I love walking, a good long walk is romantic to me. Simple pleasures, I’m a simple man.” And indeed, he is regularly seen ambling around central London with his shades on, looking the picture of happy go lucky.

So run or walk, your choice: just be sure you’ve got your short-shorts on. And when his aren’t Gucci boxers they’re usually from Irish lad favourite O’Neill’s, which retail at just £16.