Paul Mescal has stepped into the arena and is ready for his moment. After debuting in the Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney’s romantic novel “Normal People” in 2020, Mescal has had a meteoric rise, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his performance in “Aftersun” and looking towards another for his turn as Lucius in the epic legacy sequel “Gladiator II.” Reflecting on these whirlwind last few years in a recent interview with GQ, Mescal acknowledged the great distance he feels between who he was four years ago and who he is today.

“I look back at myself at 24, he’s a different guy. Everything was still so ideal in my head. I was so deeply uncynical at that age,” said Mescal. “I don’t mean happier in the broad sense, but it was kind of the montage sequence of, everything’s rosy in the garden. But also the other side...