Paul Mescal explains why All of Us Strangers sex scenes are ‘healing’

Actor was speaking to Natalie Portman for Variety’s Actors on Actors series

Paul Mescal has praised the sex scenes in his new film All of Us Strangers as “both really moving and also really sexy”.

Speaking to Natalie Portman as part of Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Mescal said: “I think sex in film, or any form of media, when it can be healing and sexy at the same time, that’s when it’s at its best.”

Normal People breakout Mescal, 27, and Fleabag’s Andrew Scott, 47, star as lovers in Andrew Haigh’s new romance movie based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada.

The film follows Adam (Scott), a writer who lives outside of London in a nearly deserted apartment building. His neighbour Harry (Mescal) returns home drunk one night and flirts with him. Their steamy encounter develops into a tender romance.

Asked by Portman why depictions of tender love are so rare in sex scenes, Mescal responded: “I think films like this are an indication of a distance that we’ve traveled, but ultimately there’s quite a ways to go.”

He added that the filmmakers wanted to “make something that felt really hot, and sexy, but I think also that doesn’t work in a narrative context if it’s not motivating character.

Andrew Scott (left) and and Paul Mescal in ‘All of Us Strangers’ (Parisa Taghizadeh/ Searchlight Pictures via AP)

“You have Andrew Scott’s character, Adam, who is in his mid-40s, who has a difficult relationship to sex. Then you have Harry come in, who is much more comfortable. Harry serves as a safe landing space for him to re-explore his sexuality, which I think is both really moving and also really sexy. I think sex in film, or any form of media, when it can be healing and sexy at the same time, that’s when it’s at its best.”

When Portman pointed out that the scenes stand in contrast to many contemporary depictions of sex, Mescal responded: “Oh my God, yeah. I feel like we’re slightly moving away from that. I hope so.”

He added: “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been in a sex scene in a film where I think, ‘I don’t know why this is here.’”

Last month, director Haigh recalled a night out with Mescal and Scott.

The British filmmaker said the three of them went to a concert together. “I could tell they were really into each other because they completely ignored me most of the day,” he said.

All of Us Strangers will be released in US cinemas on 22 December, followed by a UK release date on 26 January 2024.