Paul Mescal’s mother undergoing chemotherapy as actor scoops Oscar nomination

Paul Mescal’s mother has cancer and is getting ready to undergo chemotherapy treatment, his sister Nell Mescal has revealed.

Dearbhla Mescal had a haircut on Tuesday (24 January) “in prep for her chemotherapy”, the same day it was announced that Paul received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Nell, a singer-songwriter, tweeted: “My mum got a haircut today in prep for her chemotherapy and then Paul got nominated for an Oscar. Life is so crazy.”

Reacting to her son’s nomination, Dearbhla told Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ that she found out the news through their family WhatsApp group because it was “too stressful” to watch the nominations live.

The Mescals were last seen supporting Nell as she performed on the Irish chat show, The Late Late Show, on Friday (21 January).

Dearbhla and Paul Sr sat in the audience to watch their daughter perform her new song “Homesick”, with Dearbhla telling viewers: “I’m very proud of her and she works incredibly hard.”

Fans flooded Nell’s tweet with well wishes for her mother and shared their own experiences of life’s ups and downs clashing.

One person wrote: “The day I received my diagnosis my daughter got into the university of her dreams. My brain could not process the levels of differing emotions. What a wonderful thing to happen to aid her through chemo. All the daydreaming to be done.”

Another said: “Chemo haircut: that hits hard. She’ll rock it. This news will carry her so far. Well done to the family.”

“I’ve been there, the haircut and chemotherapy, but I can tell you that good news will go a long way in getting through the tough times,” a third wrote. “Good luck to Paul, he deserves to be nominated, a great Irish actor.”

Paul was nominated for his role in Aftersun, alongside Austin Butler (for Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale) and Bill Nighy (Living).

He said in a statement after it was announced: “This is 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.

“I want to dedicate this nomination to my two friends Charlotte [Wells, director] and Frankie [Corio, co-star] who I love dearly! This is bananas, thank you!”

Find the full list of Oscar 2023 nominations here – and find this year’s biggest snubs and surprises here.