The pride of Ireland and soft-boy fantasy of bookish girls everywhere Paul Mescal is apparently back in Australia after he was spotted doing a bit of shopping in Melbourne’s Fitzroy like normal people do.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

This exciting wee development was brought to our attention by the very respectable news source TikTok. User @katiebabypotatie spotted the actor and shared a photo of herself and old mate Mescal sharing a COVID-save selfie.

@katiebabypotatie

Paul mescal is roaming the streets of Fitzroy this is not a drill #fyp #normalpeople

♬ original sound – b

Mescal is currently in town to begin work on a new science fiction film, Foe, alongside fellow Irishman and indie film queen Saoirse Ronan and Lakeith Stanfield.

The film is based on the book of the same name by Iain Ried and Mescal and Ronan will play a husband and wife living in a dystopian world.

Honestly, though, aren’t we all?

Mescal’s most recent role was as the hot poolboy/waiter in the critically acclaimed The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson.

This isn’t the first time that Mescal has made Australia his home.

The 25-year-old star of Hulu’s television adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel Normal People was spotted at various Sydney hotspots in the early part of 2021.

Mescal had been here to film Carmen, directed by French choreographer (and husband to Natalie Portman) Benjamen Millepied. He had been cast in the role of Aiden, alongside Melissa Barrera as the titular Carmen.

Back then, Mescal was known to frequent some of Sydney’s best beer gardens (you can take the boy outta County Kildare…)

This time around, Mescal has been able to keep a relatively low profile sans the odd appearance in TikTok and  Twitter fangirls grainy photos or videos.

While Foe co-star Ronan is yet to arrive in Australia, no doubt the frenzy will be peaking by the time she does.