Paul Mescal points out major change in Hollywood

Paul Mescal has played alpha male characters in the past. But in his upcoming film, The History of Sound, he plays a gay character.

In a press conference at Cannes, he said that cinema is "moving away" from traditional male roles.

“It’s ever shifting,” the actor shared. “I think maybe in cinema we’re moving away from the traditional, alpha, leading male characters." 

"I don’t think the film is defining or attempting to redefine masculinity, I think it is being very subjective to the relationship between [their characters] Lionel and David.”

On the other hand, Oliver Hermanus' gay romance is compared with the hit Brokeback Mountain.

But the Gladiator star called them “lazy and frustrating," explaining, “I personally don’t see the parallels at all with ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ other than we spent a little time in a tent." 

He continued, “[‘Brokeback’] is a beautiful film but it is dealing with the idea of repression … I find those comparisons relatively lazy and frustrating."

"But for the most part I think the relationship I have to the film is born out of the fact that it’s a celebration between these men’s love and not the repression of their sexuality," the actor added.

Paul's The History of Sound premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.