Paul Mescal wins Best Actor at BAFTA Scotland Awards in Glasgow

Film And TV
20 Nov 23

Paul Mescal at God's Creatures premiere at Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin. 23rd February 2023. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

Normal People star Paul Mescal has today been named Best Film Actor at the British Film and Television Academy (BAFTA) Scotland Awards 2023 for his role in Aftersun .

Continuing his seemingly meteoric rise, Maynooth's Paul Mescal has been awarded best actor at the Scottish BAFTA award ceremony for his performance in Aftersun.

Directed by Scottish writer/director Charlotte Wells, the celebrated coming-of-age film follows an eleven-year-old Scottish girl (Frankie Corio) as she reconnects with her 30-year-old father (Mescal) at a Turkish resort.

Mescal was not in attendance at the ceremony in Glasgow on Sunday night to receive his award. The accolade was accepted on his behalf by writer-director Wells.

Wells also picked up the awards for Best Director Fiction and Best Writer Film/Television.

Earlier this year, Mescal was Oscar-nominated for his performance in Aftersun.

However, the BAFTA Scotland best actor award isn't the first accolade garnered by Mescal for his work, having won an Olivier Award for his work in a 2022 production of a Streetcar Named Desire and a BAFTA TV award for his breakout role in the Hulu/BBC production of Normal People.

More recently, Mescal has starred in Andrew Haigh's Oscar-tipped 'All of Us Strangers', alongside Andrew Scott. 'All of Us Strangers' is set for cinema release on January 26th 2024.

The BAFTA Scotland winners in full:

Best Film Actor: Paul Mescal, Aftersun

Best Film Actress: Lucy Halliday, Blue Jean

Best Actor Television: Lewis Gribben, Somewhere Boy

Best Actress Television: Lauren Lyle, Karen Pirie

Audience Award: Lauren Lyle

Best Director Factual: Jono McLeod, My Old School

Best Director Fiction: Charlotte Wells, Aftersun

Best Entertainment: Frankie Boyle's Farewell to the Monarchy

Best Factual Series: Three Mothers, Two Babies and a Scandal

Best Feature Film: Winners

Best Features: Designing the Hebrides