Paul Mescal Jokes About Nude Scenes, Irish Pride, and Short-Shorts in Hilarious ‘SNL’ Debut

Gladiator II star Paul Mescal made his Saturday Night Live debut during its 50th season, joking about everything from his lack of comedic roles to his Irish background.

Wearing all black and sporting a mustache, Mescal took the stage at Studio 8H and said, “I’m Paul Mescal and it is great to be here. I’ve always loved SNL. This place has such history.”

Mescal, originally from Maynooth, Ireland, continued, “Growing up back home I never expected to be here. I’m also excited to be here because I’m not really known for comedy, which is funny to me because I think I’ve given a lot of really funny performances.”

Paul Mescal humorously pointed out his range as an actor, joking that while he’s known for emotional and even nude scenes, he recently took on a new role in Gladiator II, a big action film. To playfully emphasize this change, he showed a clip of himself crying in the shower, mixing his emotional acting with the action-packed role.

I think it’s funny, no? I think it’s clear, I’m not afraid to do emotional scenes, or nude scenes, or nude emotional scenes. But recently, I did pivot to something new in ‘Gladiator II.’ It’s a big action-packed blockbuster.

It’s safe to say there’s not a lot of comedy on the resume

Mescal humorously expressed his pride in being Irish, mentioning the hardships the Irish people have faced, such as British occupation, the Great Famine, and mass immigration. He even joked about the U2 album that was automatically downloaded to people’s phones.

Anyway, I do take great pride in being Irish. The Irish people have been through a lot. Centuries of British occupation, the great famine, mass immigration, that U2 album that automatically got downloaded on people’s phones.

There’s a nasty rumor that Irish people have sex with our cousins. That’s offensive and it’s ridiculous. We have sex with our second cousins,

He joked that while some might think the Irish hate the British, it’s not true—they just don’t view them the same way, as people. When asked about Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish mascot, he humorously said it wasn’t offensive and shared that his high school had its own funny mascot, the “Fighting Fat Asses.”

“Not at all. We do the same thing with the Americans; in fact, my high school’s mascot was the Fighting Fat Asses.”

The actor also set the record straight about the idea that Irish people wear kilts. “No, that’s the Scottish. Traditionally, the Irish wear short shorts,” he said, as a picture of him in tiny shorts appeared on the screen. “Did someone say short shorts?” asked Marcello Hernandez, who then walked onstage wearing tiny shorts as well.

Mescal also mentioned an Irish stereotype that rings true for him tonight. “People often talk about the luck of the Irish. I do feel very, very lucky to be here. I’m in New York City, I’m hosting SNL, and this feels totally insane to me,” he said with a smile.

In his first skit, Mescal starred in a musical version of Gladiator II, adding 50 extra minutes of music to the film. In it, he sang about being a misunderstood killing machine.

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