Paul Mescal on meeting King Charles: ‘I’m, like, Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities’

Gladiator II premiered in Los Angeles last night, following the big “royal premiere” in London last week. Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and more came out for both premieres. Last week’s London premiere was attended by King Charles, and it benefited a British-actor charity. There was a receiving line for the actors to meet Charles. At the time, the biggest story from the receiving line was that Denzel sort of didn’t know how to greet the king, but the photos were funny and you could tell that Denzel doesn’t actually give a f–k. Hilariously, neither does Gladiator II’s Irish lead, Paul Mescal. When he was on the carpet at the LA premiere last night, Mescal was asked about meeting King Charles last week. Mescal’s answer could not have been more Irish:

“Never met the king…how wild is it? I mean, it’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards, I’m, like, Irish, so it’s not kind of on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley because I know how important that is for him…” It’s hilarious because a lot of British people have no idea how Irish people do not care about their royalty, but Americans are especially oblivious. Like, Variety’s reporter really thought Paul Mescal, an Irishman who speaks Gaelic, would be jazzed about meeting a rotten old English king.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

35 Responses to “Paul Mescal on meeting King Charles: ‘I’m, like, Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities’”

  1. M says:

    I wanna know why the people from countries who overthrew the English are always being forced to kiss the ring? I would tell KCIII to kiss my ass if I were Paul.

    • AlpineWitch says:

      I’m naturalised British and care 0 about meeting KCIII. Mind you, I might get my citizenship revoked if I did that though 🤣🤣🤣🤣

  2. sunny says:

    God love em, the Irish have looooooooong memories. Also it is constantly surprises me how little Americans know about the rest of the world. Obviously I am speaking in general terms here and all the Americans on this site are curious about the world but as a rule it is shocking how little Americans are taught about the world around them.

    • RandomThoughts says:

      Really not that long ago! I have family in NI that grew up in the car bomb era. I really doubt there are too many Englishmen who have no idea how Irish people do not care about their royalty…

      • Fifee says:

        @RandomThoughts I grew up in Glasgow in the 70s & 80s a city truly divided in a lot places along the Catholic/Protestant lines, even schools being divided which doesn’t help matters (I’ve always seen religion as a personal thing and shouldn’t be taught in schools).

        The area of the city I lived in the police station was used a couple of times as an overflow from a larger one in another area where members of paramilitary groups would be held. As I got older I remember parts of the main road being closed off, traffic diverted, certain families/ people from the high rises facing the police station would be rehoused for short periods of time and armed officers stationed in the houses. This made me think about how badly this affected families in NI, streets being barricaded, no go areas, armed soldiers on the streets. I was happy for the people of Ireland and NI for peace and I hope it lasts although there’s always a wee bit of rumbling about drug running, arms dealing etc going on.

    • somebody says:

      Interesting that you limit that to Americans not knowing about others. I think the BM proves daily how little they know about America, including their own colony, Canada or about their former and present Commonwealth countries.

      • Noo says:

        @somebody faaaaa maybe time for you to brush up on your facts too, Canada hasn’t had colonial rule by Britain since before 1867, legislation further updated in 1982.

        However, Indigenous Peoples are still oppressed and harmed by colonial practice and law in Canada but I don’t think that was your point.

      • somebody says:

        Faaaaa (whatever that means), Canada is still part of the commonwealth and still has Charles as their monarch. And, yes, indigenous peoples are still harmed by colonial remnants in more countries than Canada.

      • Noo says:

        @somebody faaaa means thanks for explaining my country to me. Poorly.

    • Blithe says:

      Ummm, I’m constantly surprised by how little Americans seem to know about our OWN history, including the idea that there could be more then one historical perspective— even on agreed upon “facts”.
      ( Pausing here in gratitude to the many teachers that I had as a kid — especially Mr Sims, Ms Feely, and Mr Hogan — who taught beyond the textbooks.)

    • Get Real says:

      “Long memories”?
      The Good Friday agreement was literally signed in 1998, only 26 years ago.
      And the 6 Irish counties in the north are still under British rule. So yeah, the Irish tend to remember that their country still isn’t free.

  3. HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

    Remember when people were upset that President Biden didn’t go to Charles’s coronation, but he did go to Ireland and Northern Ireland the month before? And to London the month after? LOL. Savage. Biden is a proud Irish American. He may like Charles as a person, but he was not going to go to a party celebrating the English monarchy.

  4. Debs says:

    I’m English and fully aware of how Ireland feel. The same way I do about KCIII – not my king.

  5. kelleybelle says:

    I get the sentiment and agree, but is he Irish or only “like” Irish? Which is it? That like in front of everything makes so little sense.

  6. Miranda says:

    LMAO at the photo of Charles in the car with Burger King reflected in the window. Is that a protester’s sign or…?

  7. What a great answer. He’s not for him but someone else may care for him lol. It’s was said without being mean just the facts.

  8. Becks1 says:

    Haha I love this.

    There’s a clip that pops up in my Reels occasionally – I think its from the Inception premiere but I’m not positive – of Cillian Murphy meeting Harry at the event. And they shake hands and its fine and then Cillian puts his hands in his pockets and just kind of stares blankly at Harry. And the account that shares this video is always like “what did harry say to piss off Cillian???” and the responses are usually a mix of anti-harry nonsense and then “He’s Irish, Harry’s a British prince, what did you expect?” Like from the clip it doesn’t seem like there is personal bad blood there, just that Cillian isnt going to kiss the ring (and Harry doesnt seem to expect him to.)

    I think something that is probably jarring for the british press/royalists right now is that a lot of people respected QEII for a variety of reasons – becoming queen at a relatively young age, her longevity as queen (so when she died she was the only british monarch the majority of people in the world had known), how she walked the line between privacy but also being open (so even when she wasn’t working she made sure she was seen going to church etc), and how she let enough of her personality and interests known but also was a relative blank slate. So by the end she kind of just seemed like everyone’s grandmother.

    Her role as monarch was obviously a huge part of why people respected her but by the end of her reign (since there were some big bumps along the way), the respect also felt like it was on a personal level even though people didn’t actually know her. People were sad that this woman had died, not just the monarch. (it was actually a great trick on her part, that people felt they knew her even though most didn’t.)

    ANYWAY. point being that Charles doesnt have that same level of respect, nor does William. The respect doesn’t automatically transfer to The Monarch, its not Sandringham. and I feel like there are a lot of royalists and royal reporters who are scrambling to come to terms with that.

  9. Hypocrisy says:

    My Gaelic speaking Irish Catholic great grandmother was never that kind to anyone who mentioned the BRF or English in general. She despised them all, and I have to agree that the BRF definitely deserved it. The only humanity that family has ever had died in a Paris tunnel or currently reside in California.

  10. Jais says:

    Alright, we’ve heard from Denzel and Paul. Now I wana know Pedro’s thoughts on meeting the king😂. I’m sure he’d say something lovely but maybe with a kick.

    • Kokiri says:

      Look no further than Pedro’s family history to know what he’s think.

      He’s also said he gets along with everyone but that doesn’t mean he likes everyone.

      So he’d be polite, as the occasion warranted, but I’d be very surprised if he ever waxed poetic about any colonizer country.

  11. Amy Bee says:

    I’m guessing the Variety reporter is a royalist to ask that question

  12. Pinky says:

    Just FYI, the name of the language is Irish, not Gaelic.
    Echoing the extreme use of like in sentences for no reason. It can be in the middle, like, of the sentence, or at the end, as a punctuation, like. 🙂

  13. JudyB says:

    The British Media keep saying that Americans hate Harry and Meghan, but if you try to find an American newspaper that prints more than a couple of articles every year or so about the British royal family, you will find very few. The point is that few Americans really care about that family and just don’t bother reading about them, so few articles are written about them.

    If most Americans really hated, or even really liked, Harry and Meghan, you would see a lot of articles about them. The point is they just don’t care.

  14. Rascalito says:

    Paul Mescal doesn’t care, I don’t care, I don’t know even one person who cares AT ALL about the British royal family, which is why I really wish Celebitchy would stop having what seems like 70% of your posts be about them. I really wish someone here could explain this site’s obsession with British royals, because it is so SO boring. I would really like to hear a reason for it, because this site didn’t use to be like that, and it was my favourite site on the internet to read every day. Now it’s turned into some bizarre obsession with something extremely boring, and I just don’t get it. I don’t get it at all.

  15. Kat says:

    At at this point in history the Brits are comically pathetic to still feign surprise at non-Brits not giving a single iota of a s**t about Britain or the royal family.

Commenting Guidelines

Read the article before commenting.

We aim to be a friendly, welcoming site where people can discuss entertainment stories and current events in a lighthearted, safe environment without fear of harassment, excessive negativity, or bullying. Different opinions, backgrounds, ages, and nationalities are welcome here - hatred and bigotry are not. If you make racist or bigoted remarks, comment under multiple names, or wish death on anyone you will be banned. There are no second chances if you violate one of these basic rules.

By commenting you agree to our comment policy and our privacy policy

Do not engage with trolls, contrarians or rude people. Comment "troll" and we will see it.

Please e-mail the moderators at cbcomments at gmail.com to delete a comment if it's offensive or spam. If your comment disappears, it may have been eaten by the spam filter. Please email us to get it retrieved.

You can sign up to get an image next to your name at Gravatar.com Thank you!

Leave a comment after you have read the article

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment