Paul Mescal jokes how party-loving dad claimed he danced with Cher at Oscars bash

Paul, was nominated for his role in Aftersun back in January, first shot to fame after landing a role in the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel Normal People.

He had been nominated in the Best Actor category alongside fellow Irishman Colin Farrell as well as Austin Butler, Brendan Fraiser and Bill Nighy.

on Thursday evening the actor appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live with Jimmy Kimmel where he revealed he craic he had with his parents at the awards ceremony.

The 27-year-old said he had stayed out until 9am after the star-studded event, telling Jimmy: “Dad was mostly there for the parties. That was his main event for him that weekend.”

“He got to dance, as he said, with Cher… he was in the vicinity of Cher dancing.”

Jimmy then exclaimed: “Cher was dancing at a party?”

Paul added: “And my Dad said, ‘with him’, but Cher was definitely not dancing with my dad!”

The Oscar nominee told the audiences that his father “had a great time” and told everyone back home that he danced with Cher.

“But I’m correcting him here on television that he didn’t dance with Cher,” he laughed.

Directed by Edinburgh-born Charlotte Wells, the critically acclaimed drama Aftersun was released in 2022 and starred Mescal and Frankie Corio, playing a father and daughter on a holiday to Turkey.

The film received universal acclaim from critics, who praised Wells' direction and screenplay, and the performances of the film's leading cast with Mescal earning an Academy Award nod for Best Actor.

It was also named one of the best films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and was awarded top place by Sight and Sound on its poll for the best films of the year.

Mescal plays Calum, a young separated but idealistic father who sets off on a package holiday to Turkey with his pre-teen daughter, Sophie played by newcomer Frankie Corio.

Wells was inspired to write the screenplay after stumbling across a childhood photograph of herself taken on a foreign holiday in the 1990s. The film is set squarely in that era, and is largely a technology-free zone, aside from the DV Camcorder that father and daughter use to record moments from the holiday.

The Maynooth native is set to star in the Gladiator sequel playing Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), with the story taking place many years after the events of original 2000 epic.

Speaking about the pressure that comes with such a massive role, Paul shared: “I can't tell you how stressed I am talking about that film in particular, because it's definitely the biggest one I've done.

“I feel really excited, but, it's difficult to get away from the legacy of the film a bit. I think it's really well written and it pays homage to the first one, but it's very much something that I think I can step into and make comfortably my own.”

Paul is starring in the film alongside The Last of Us actor Pedro Pascal and admitted that he’s a huge fan. However, he revealed that he was too nervous to approach Pascal at the airport before their first meeting.

“I was too afraid to go up to him. He came up and just seemed so genuine; I'm really looking forward to hanging out with him,” he said.