NORMAL People actor Paul Mescal has defended the show’s “non-stop”romping after some viewers criticised the racy scenes. Paul, 24, who plays the role of Connell Waldron in the hit BBC series, made his comments during an appearance on RTE One’s The Late Late Show. Asked if he was surprised by the reaction from viewers who […]
NORMAL People actor Paul Mescal has defended the show’s “non-stop”romping after some viewers criticised the racy scenes.
Paul, 24, who plays the role of Connell Waldron in the hit BBC series, made his comments during an appearance on RTE One’s The Late Late Show.
Asked if he was surprised by the reaction from viewers who debated the topic on popular Irish radio show, Liveline, the young actor responded diplomatically.
Paul replied: “I actually listened in [to Liveline] yesterday, and I suppose I was a bit surprised, but the last thing I want to do is sit and judge people for that, because they’re entitled to their opinion.
“My own perspective of it is we worked hard to make it feel like it was a real, accurate and truthful representation of sex amongst young people.”
He added: “It’s something I’m incredibly proud of and incredibly proud to see on Irish screens, personally.”
He and his co-star, Daisy Edgar-Jones, share several sex scenes throughout the 12 episodes as the series follows the love story of Connell and Daisy’s character Marianne Sheridan.
The topic has proved particularly contentious in Ireland, where the series is set, and was debated on the country’s Liveline radio show.
After the first two episodes aired on BBC One and RTÉ One in Ireland, RTÉ Radio 1’s hugely popular talk show aired a debate on Joe Duffy’s show.
The first caller of the show, a woman called Mary, complained that Daisy’s character “only looked about 15,” and said: “I imagine it would be something you’d expect to see in a porno movie. Certainly not for family viewing.”
Daisy is actually 21-years-old in real life and portrays Marianne as a 17-year-old in the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel.
Another caller, David, claimed that any parent with teenage sons and daughters would cringe watching Normal People.
He said: “The message this is implying here is that we’re sexualising our young people. Young people just need to live their lives, play tennis, do football, get involved in other things – they don’t need all this sexualisation shoved down their throats on television 24/7. It’s not normal.”
Normal People is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer. Weekly double episodes air Mondays on BBC One from 9pm.
