His tweet clarifying his nationality may have been the most liked post in Ireland three years ago, but the BBC has had to apologise after getting a crucial fact about Oscar nominee wrong.
Earlier this week the Irish actor was for the upcoming Academy Awards.
The 26-year-old, who is from Maynooth, was given the nod for his leading role in indie flick Aftersun in the Actor in a Leading Role category.
In March, Paul will be going up against (Elvis), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Bill Nighy (Living) and (The Banshees of Inisherin) in the prestigious category.
But when covering the nominations, the national broadcaster made a rather awkward error.
In text appearing on screen, the BBC reported: ‘2023 Oscar nominations: British actors Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are nominated for leading role.’
It has now apologised for the mistake, that read: ‘In text running across the screen we reported that Paul Mescal was one of two British actors who had been nominated for an Oscar for a leading role.’
‘The text should have said that Paul Mescal is Irish. We apologise for the mistake.’
When the mistake was made, plenty of people pointed it out and reminded the media outlet that Paul is very much Irish.
‘BBC news seems to not know Paul Mescal is IRISH,’ one person wrote.
Another added: ‘The BBC should know that Paul Mescal isn’t British.’
It wasn’t the first time this has happened though.
Back in 2020, when Paul picked up an Emmy nomination for his breakthrough role in Normal People, outlets including The Guardian called him British.
It lead the actor to tweet ‘I’m Irish’, which ended up becoming the most-liked post in his home country that year.
The message quickly racked up over 130,000 likes as well as over 12,000 retweets and over 1,600 replies.
His Oscar nomination helped break a record for Ireland too, with the country securing 14 nominations in the upcoming awards ceremony.
Other actors to get nods included Barry Keoghan, Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon.
When his nomination was announced Paul said it was ‘truly a special moment for everyone involved in Aftersun’.
‘To be recognised by the Academy is such an insane honour and I’m so utterly grateful.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Paul Mescal’s representatives for comment.
