Normal People star Paul Mescal struggled with acting in college and almost walked out of a career that could earn him millions.
While the 24-year-old is currently flying high on the back of Normal People’s runaway success, he says he almost threw in the towel.
The Co Kildare star added: “There was a period in first year in drama school and I felt like I just wasn’t getting it.
“In sport you can train lots and generally you are going to get it.
“In acting though you have to change the way you think about things and you can’t prepare to the extent that you are going to get it.
“It doesn’t matter how well you prepare, you might be s**t in that part. I haven’t read the plays everyone else read.
“I didn’t have the background in theatre, the background or the knowledge and confidence in myself to know I would succeed.
“Then my ego got in the way. I don’t like the idea of quitting things and I am glad for that trait because I did come that close to quitting. Thankfully I didn’t.”
The TV show has shattered records by racking up 16 million BBC iPlayer requests in its first week alone.
The actor admitted he is still finding it strange that fans of the show have such a keen interest in his love life.
Paul added: “I suppose you kind of [expect those questions about your love life], it would be naive to say that it is surprising.
“I have watched actors my whole life so I know that when you do a project that brings you into the public domain, people are, for some reason, interested in that.”
Paul said that for the first two years of his college years there wasn’t much worth talking about when it came to having fun.
In an interview with Irish comic Jarlath Regan he added: “I was quite hermetic, like a hermit in college. Drama school training it is a very intense, all encompassing thing.
“So I feel like I missed out on that college experience.
“It felt more like an apprenticeship.
“I didn’t drink much or go to a huge amount of parties. A lot of that had to do with the fact that I was playing GAA.
“Then in third year I went bananas.”
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