Paul Mescal says comparisons of new film with ‘Brokeback Mountain' are lazy

Sunday World

23-05-2025

As Kildare actor showcases new gay role at Cannes Film Festival, he says 'The History of Sound' focuses on love, not repression
John Lennon, whose half-sister would prefer Liverpool actors to play The Fab Four. Photo: Getty
John Lennon, whose half-sister does not want Paul Mescal to play Paul McCartney. Photo: Getty
Paul Mescal at the premiere of his latest film 'The History of Sound' at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Reuters
Actor Paul Mescal has rejected comparisons of his new period romance The History of Sound with gay cowboy classic Brokeback Mountain, saying the only thing they have in common is the characters spend time together in a tent.
The History of Sound, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, stars Mescal and Josh O'Connor as Lionel and David, who meet at the Boston Conservatory in the early 1900s and fall in love over their shared love of folk songs.
However, the couple are separated when David is drafted into World War I. After the war, they reunite to hike across Maine in search of oral-tradition songs to record, with the adventure having a profound effect on both men later in life.
'I personally don't see the parallels at all between Brokeback Mountain, other than the fact that we spend a ­little bit of time in a tent,' Mescal (29) told journalists at Cannes.
Variety described the new film as 'Brokeback Mountain on sedatives', while The Guardian said it was 'a quasi-­Brokeback Mountain film whose tone is one of persistent mournful awe at its own sadness' and gave it two out of five stars.
There should be more films about the sort of dynamics and the nuances of queer relationships
Mescal rejected the comparisons as lazy and frustrating, saying the focus of the film, unlike Ang Lee's 2006 Oscar winner, was a celebration of the characters' love rather than repression.
South African director Oliver ­Hermanus, who was nominated for a Bafta for 2022 film Living, said that comparing his film with one that came out 20 years ago showed there was a deficiency.
'There should be more films about the sort of dynamics and the nuances of queer relationships, of relationships that are beyond the context of what most movies probably deal with,' he said.
Mescal – who previously played a gay character in the heartbreaking romantic drama All of Us Strangers opposite Andrew Scott, before his Hollywood turn in Gladiator II – said his attraction to such roles was based on instinct.
'I personally celebrate actors who lean into their artistic compulsion, and if that's what I'm about to do at this moment in my career, I'm going to just hopefully pursue that for a little while longer until that compulsion ­changes,' he said.
Meanwhile, Mescal's role as Paul McCartney in a series of films to be made charting the rise and lives of The Beatles has come in for criticism from John Lennon's half-sister.
John Lennon, whose half-sister would prefer Liverpool actors to play The Fab Four. Photo: Getty
Mescal will star alongside Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan in a quartet of films about The Fab Four being made by Oscar-­winner Sam Mendes.
In an interview with MailOnline, Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird expressed her disappointment that the director did not decide to use actors originally from Liverpool.
Mescal is from Co Kildare and ­Keoghan is from inner-city Dublin, while Dickinson and Quinn are from London.
When the casting was announced, many Beatles fans complained about the actors, who they said bore no resemblance to the Fab Four.
Now Lennon's sister has spoken out to back up their criticisms.
It will be interesting to see what kind of accent he comes up. Nobody can do a Liverpool accent. They all get it wrong
'What's wrong with Liverpool?' she asked, suggesting the producers should have chosen unknown local actors for whom these could have been breakthrough roles.
'We have actors, and they speak the language. Paul Mescal is in everything – get real, come on,' Baird said. 'There are more actors out there waiting for a go and for a chance.
'It will be interesting to see what kind of accent he comes up with, because nobody can do a Liverpool accent. They all get it wrong.'
Each of the four films will focus on a different member of The Beatles, with Mendes claiming they would all be released in cinemas within a month of each other.