ACTOR PAUL MESCAL has said he will start rationing his workload to avoid resenting his career.

The 29-year-old, who shot to fame during the pandemic for his role in Normal People, has since starred in blockbusters such as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II and booked the role of Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopics by filmmaker Sam Mendes.

Mescal, who also stars in two upcoming dramas, Hamnet and The History Of Sound, revealed that the growing film credits comes with a cost and that he may need to be more selective with his workload.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mescal said: “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.”

Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley and Hamnet director Chloe Zhao attending photography exhibition in London. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

When asked if he is rationing himself, he said: “I think so. I’m gonna have to start doing that. For sure.

“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 keep going back and expect to consistently deliver something you’re proud of.”

Mescal plays Lionel in the film which follows his character’s relationship with David (played by Josh O’Connor) after the pair meet in 1917 at the New England Conservatory, and following the First World War, before travelling together to record folk songs in rural Maine in winter 1920.

He added: “What that (career) 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. I also have different priorities in my personal life that I want to attend to.

“I don’t want to resent the thing I love. This sounds bold, but I’d rather not be on the train if that is the choice.”

Mescal, who is promoting Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, about William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, played by Irish actress Jessie Buckley, as they manage the grief of losing their son, added:

“Once I’ve finished promoting that, 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.”