Paul Mescal was called out by Baftas host Alan Cumming after being caught scrolling his phone during the awards ceremony.
Last night British cinemas biggest night was held – with films including Hamnet, Sinners and One Battle After Another walking away with major awards.
The first, which dramatises the life of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway, stars Paul as the legendary playwright and Jessie Buckley as his wife.
The film won outstanding British film, while Irish actress Jessie was also awarded leading actress.
Although Paul had been nominated for supporting actor, he missed out on securing a win, as did the film’s director Chloe Zhao – with their categories being won by One Battle After Another’s Sean Penn and Paul Thomas Anderson.
However, during the three-hour ceremony, the Irish actor, 30, was also caught out after getting distracted by his mobile phone.
In a hilarious moment captured on screen, Alan had been announcing an award before noticing Paul was looking at his screen.
‘The next award is for outstanding British film in honour of Alexander Korda, Paul, Paul, oh he is on his phone,’ he said after attempting to get Paul’s attention several times.
Looking up from his phone looking shocked and confused, Paul then put his hands over his face and laughing when the embarrassment of being caught and called out kicked in.
‘You were supposed to do the gag, don’t you worry,’ Alan added while laughing.
Looking flustered, Paul then rushed to put his phone away and appeared to mouth an apology as Alan waved him off.
‘Don’t worry,’ he told the nominee, before continuing with his introduction.
The moment left many watching on at home in hysterics, with plenty of social media posts addressing the awkward moment.
‘HELP PAUL MESCAL ON HIS PHONE AT THE BAFTAS IS SO FUNNY like same,’ user heartsfornp posted on X.
‘Paul Mescal getting called out at BAFTAs for being on his phone? That’s awkward,’ shydyor shared.
Earlier in the evening, Paul made his red carpet debut with long-term girlfriend Gracie Abrams, who he’s been dating for two years.
While Paul wore a black jacket and pants with a white dress shirt that he left unbuttoned at the top, his singer-songwriter girlfriend, 26, wore a black Matthieu Blazy gown with a floral design.
Posing for photos, Gracie also kissed her boyfriend’s cheek while he held her waist.
The couple were first spotted on a dinner date together in London in June, 2024, going on to be spotted attending the All Points East music festival, while Paul supported Gracie during one of her New York concerts soon after.
Although the pair have rarely publicly commented on their relationship, she was his date to the Los Angeles premiere of his movie Gladiator II, however they didn’t walk the red carpet together.
Speaking to GQ, Paul previously spoke about his desire to keep his personal life private despite his growing fame.
The actor shared that he’d ‘learned that there’s certain lines in the sand now for me that just are going to be impenetrable for the benefit of my own sanity’.
‘The speculation has been kind of mad for the last x amount of years,’ he said. ‘I’m not comfortable inviting any access into that part of my life.”
‘How I am in my private life is so precious to me because I get very little of it, and it might be public interest, but it’s not public-obligated information,’ he added.
Rising to fame starring in the small screen adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel Normal People in 2020, Paul has since gone on to star in The Lost Daughter, Aftersun, All of Us Strangers and Gladiator II. He will also play Sir Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes’ upcoming four The Beatles biopic films.
Throughout the past five years he’s also won two Baftas, and a Laurence Olivier award, as well as being nominated for an Oscar, Emmy, two Actor Awards and a Golden Globe award.
However last year he revealed he had plans to ‘start rationing’ his workload.
‘I’m five or six years into this now, and I feel very lucky. But I’m also learning that I don’t think I can go on doing it as much,’ he told The Guardian.
‘I’m gonna have to start rationing my workload. For sure. Although, rationing doesn’t necessarily mean less. It means learning that films like The History of Sound take more out of the well.’
‘You can’t expect to consistently deliver something you’re proud of. What that rationing looks like, I don’t know. I miss being on stage, so I might have a time when I’m only doing theatre for a couple of years.
‘Once I’ve finished promoting [Hamnet], I hope nobody gets to see me until 2028 when I’m doing the Beatles. People will get a break from me, and I’ll get a break from them.’
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