Paul Mescal, who stars in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (and will soon lead an Off-Broadway transfer of A Streetcar Named Desire at Brooklyn Academy of Music) flexed his musical theatre skills during the December 7 airing of Saturday Night Live. Watch his parody Gladiator II trailer, complete with jaunty song called "No Place Like Rome" and Mescal doing the “Defying Gravity” battle cry, in the video above.
The latest episode was Mescal’s first time hosting SNL. A Streetcar Named Desire will mark Mescal’s U.S. stage debut—aside from starring in (and winning an Olivier Award for) the play’s 2022 staging at London's Almeida Theatre, Mescal is known for his screen performances in Normal People, All of Us Strangers, and more.
Much of the London cast will join Mescal in the Off-Broadway bow, including Anjana Vasan in her Olivier-winning performance as Stella, Patsy Ferren as Blanche Du Bois, and Dwane Walcott as Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell. Rebecca Frecknall, currently represented on Broadway with Cabaret, will again direct. Performances will run February 28-April 6, 2025, at the BAM Strong's Harvey Theater.
Prior to the Off-Broadway run, the production will play the Noël Coward Theatre in London's West End February 3-22, 2025.
Mescal has also been cast in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, which will be filmed over the next 20 years under Richard Linklater. Mescal will play Franklin Shepard, Ben Platt will play composer Charley Kringas, and Beanie Feldstein will play writer Mary. So consider the SNL skit an advance look at Mescal's vocal abilities.
