Breaking Baz: Hot Star Paul Mescal Heats Up London Theater; BAFTA Talks Gender Neutrality; All About Amy Winehouse When We Were Neighbors
deadline.comPaul Mescal freely admits that Stanley Kowalski is a wife beater and a rapist. The star of indie favorite Aftersun says he has “a lot of sympathy for him because that’s my job” — Mescal is playing the brutal antagonist in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at London’s Almeida Theatre.
He quickly adds: “But no, I don’t like him. But I like playing him.” Mescal describes Stanley as “smart, charming, dynamic and brutal,” adding that “there are parts of him that I would like being around,” though he’s well aware that Kowalski could “explode” at any moment.
In a production directed by Rebecca Frecknall, the revival is electrifying. Mescal is brilliant as the thuggish war vet, really an animal in a T-shirt.
He’s put out of shape when Blanche, his sister-in-law, camps out at the small apartment in New Orleans he shares with wife Stella, played well by Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts). RELATED: Paul Mescal To Star In Ridley Scott’s ‘Gladiator’ Sequel For Paramount “It’s my job to see him as somebody who is being encroached upon,” Mescal says.
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