Honestly, what’s new?
Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott have both been claimed as British actors by multiple publications following this week’s Emmy nominations.
The actors, both from Kildare and Dublin respectively, received nominations for their outstanding performances in Normal People and Black Mirror.
Naturally, the majority of people in the country were delighted for the pair, as is likely to occur when Irish stars manage to break into the global entertainment sphere and showcase their talents for the entire world to see.
Another thing that’s likely to occur is that these actors will be claimed as British at some point, despite the fact that they are blatantly Irish.
Multiple publications took it upon themselves to claim Mescal and Scott this week. Among them was The Guardian, who said that this year’s Emmy nominations was “a strong showing for British talent including Paul Mescal nominated for Normal People […] Andrew Scott for Black Mirror.”
Elsewhere, Mail Online led with: “Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer, Normal People’s Paul Mescal, […] lead the British Emmy nominations.”
Understandably, people were pissed off. Not because a quick Google search would confirm that these men are, indeed, Irish, but because there is no way that those claiming Mescal and Scott as their own weren’t aware of this fact.
Normal People is an Irish series. Sure, it was produced by a British production company, but it’s a story set in Ireland, directed by Irish talent, and written by an Irish writer. Some of the actors starring in the series may be from the UK, but surely everybody and their mother knows that Paul Mescal is not.
The same goes for Scott. His performance in Black Mirror may not be as widely watched as his recent role as the so-called Hot Priest in Fleabag or his earlier work in BBC’s Sherlock, but in each series, he is Irish.
So, where is the confusion stemming from? And is it really confusion at all?
Could it simple be that many British people are well aware that Mescal and Scott are Irish – they just don’t care? Does the desire to claim as much talent as possible outweigh an awareness that ‘British’ is not an acceptable (or accurate) term for the majority of people who live in Ireland?
Or are the claims working off the basis that both shows are co-productions across multiple nations and that really, an actor’s individual nationality – even though he is the one being nominated for his performance – doesn’t really matter?
Either way, this is not something new. Nor is it something that we can expect to be tackled in the upcoming bout of nominations for other awards ceremonies, that are also likely to have Irish talent claimed as otherwise.
At least this fierce talent is being recognised – and at least most people are aware that the talent is, in fact, Irish.
