Paul Mescal reveals dream role is in Oscar-winning LGBT drama

Paul Mescal has revealed the film he would most have liked to star in… and it’s very queer.

The actor is probably best-known for his BAFTA-winning turn in Normal People as well as starring opposite Andrew Scott in Andrew Haigh’s gay drama All of us Strangers at the turn of the year.

Now, he has told GQ magazine that one of the films he would have loved to star in was Sidney Lumet’s crime thriller Dog Day Afternoon, which was recognised at the 1976 Academy Awards.

The film, starring Al Pacino and John Cazale, was based on the true story of John Wojtowicz, who in 1972 held up a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank in Brooklyn to help pay for the gender-affirming surgery of his trans wife, Elizabeth Eden.

The bank robber held seven people hostage for more than 14 hours before a shootout with the FBI during which his partner-in-crime Salvatore Naturile was killed.

Wojtowicz was arrested and eventually jailed for 20 years, although he only served five before being incarcerated again for parole violations.

Mescal said to have worked alongside Pacino would’ve been “pretty amazing.” Actually, it would have been much more than that: the film was made more than 20 years before the Irish star was born.

He also said “any [John] Cassavetes film with Gina Rowlands” would be in his top picks.

Other directors and actors on his wish-list included Brokeback Mountain star Michelle Williams, Zone of Interest‘s Sandra Hüller and Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese.

“So, if you’re watching [Scorsese], please…” Mescal said laughing. “If I can get one of those, I’ll die a very happy man.”

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