Paul Mescalenters the north London cafe having trudged a short distance through the snow from his gym.
Heads turn, but Mescal is oblivious.
The revival has been on Mescals slate for three years, delayed by Covid and scheduling issues.
British indie pic ‘Aftersun’A24
Audiences lapped up the painfully honest relationshipdramafrom the comfort of their sofas.
The tale, perhaps a distorted memory of a vulnerable fathers unravelling, unfolds through the young girls eyes.
Fortunately, he and Corio hit if off straight away.
Paul Mescal inAftersun.A24
Shes wild, wild, like Frankie is wild, he says, his grin widening as he speaks.
I cant explain that other than probably, like, chemistry that exists between people.
And we were lucky.
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He then recites a line from another poem about a daughter teething for the first time.
Its so tender, he says softly.
Mescal nods his head in agreement.
I think its spot on, he says.
I dont think theres anything particularly interesting about watching somebody suffering for 96 or 97 minutes.
And you see him fronting up against that on a daily basis.
That, to me, is where…
It devastates me, you know?
Its like, what is harder to watch than somebody who wants to be better?
I think talking to someone about your feelings is a very, very modern thing, he says.
Like, when I told my dad that Id started going to therapy, he went, What?
Whats wrong with you?
Because thats, culturally, what you do: you go to a therapist if youre mentally blocked.
When I first started spending time in LA, I hadnt started going to therapy properly.
People would look at me like, Why?
And so, initially, I was defensive.
I was like, Im fine.
And of course thats not the point.
The point is, the way you look after your body should be the way that you look after…
It wasnt that it didnt exist, it just wasnt really something that people would do.
They would just bottle it up.
And some people could do it and survive it and be fine.
But some people just cant do it.
The thing Im nervous about is…
But I do want to know what people think, and Im nervous about the next steps.
I dont want to make just movies likeAftersunfor the rest of my life.
I know that will be the bedrock, but I want to have my cake and eat it.
And I dont see that changing anytime soon.
