So… Are Paul Mescal And Natalie Portman Dating Or Not?!
Every now and again, a photo somewhat breaks the internet. First it was Kim Kardashian on the cover of Paper magazine, then it was Harry Styles spitting in Chris Evans’ lap and now it’s two gorgeous celebrities having a ciggie together.
The two celebs in question? Darling Natalie Portman and the internet’s boyfriend Paul Mescal.
The pair were slouching against a wall in London wearing matching white tees, puffing on a cigarette and looking mighty comfortable together, if I do say so myself.
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The internet, of course, internetted itself immediately and drew the conclusion that Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal must be dating. But I’m here to figure out if that is actually true. So let’s look back at the history.
Paul and Natalie first met in 2023 while filming for the famed Variety series ‘Actors on Actors’. During their chat they chatted all about the wanky things that actors chat about on the series, like their “craft” and whatnot, but in one adorable moment Paul confessed he thought Natalie was “brilliant”.
If my drama-school self knew that I would be talking to you, I would pinch myself many, many times!” he told her.
Natalie didn’t just take the compliment, and instead had threw some cute words at Paul, telling him, “I remember seeing you in Normal People and just being like, ‘Oh my gosh, who is this talent?'”
So there’s, at the very least, professional attraction there.
Natalie Portman is recently single after divorcing Benjamin Millepied after 11 years of marriage. They emotionally split in 2023 but the divorce was only finalised in March of this year. While there haven’t been any public statements about the breakup, People reported around the time that Benjamin had been having an affair. The couple have two children (12-year-old son Aleph and seven-year-old daughter Amalia) and were living all together in France. It’s unclear where Natalie is based since the split.
Paul Mescal has never been married (as far as I know) but he was recently in a rather public relationship with boygenius singer Phoebe Bridgers before ending things after two years together – reportedly due to Phoebe getting closer to her now-boyfriend, Bo Burnham.
Image credit: Instagram
Since their split, Paul has been pretty quiet about his dating life, telling Vanity Fair in February 2023 that he feels pressure to be open with the public about who he was dating. “The temptation still exists to be like, ‘Shut the f**k up. This is my life. This is what’s going on,'” he said. “Or, ‘This is what’s not going on.”
Despite this, he’s keen to keep his relationship status private from here on out. “Moving forward as much as I can, that’s going to be my life that is private,” he said. “That’s a difficult thing to achieve. But giving strangers an answer about my life doesn’t actually help me. It’s like a quick boost of serotonin, being like, ‘I’ve said what I need to say.’ And then it’s just Twitter fodder.”
That’s all well and good Paul, BUT BACK TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU’RE DATING NATALIE PORTMAN?!
Unfortunately, sources told TMZ yesterday that there isn’t anything romantic going on. They claim that Natalie and Paul are actually just good friends and this now-iconic ciggie pic was just a documentation of that friendship.
Damnit. I’m a little sad they’re not a couple, but I’ll distract myself by buying a sharp white tee so I can join their pal group.
Image credit: Variety + Punkee