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WATCH: Daisy Edgar-Jones & Paul Mescal's Full Interview With James Corden

SPIN
SPIN

10:57 15 May 2020


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Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal's James Corden interview

Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal appeared on James Corden's Late Late Show this week.

They talked about filming intimate scenes, their sudden fame and how Paul has banned his father from speaking to the press.

 

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Can't be sure but I reckon Connell likes Marianne. #NormalPeople

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James told the pair that he hasn't stopped talking about Normal People.

He gushed, "It is quite extraordinary, I cannot overstate how much the entire feeling of watching it has meant to me."

"But it's not just me, it's everybody else! The show has broken download records around the world."

Coping with the show's success

When asked how they're feeling, Daisy admitted, "It's been absolutely bonkers to be honest."

Even though they knew there had been so much love for the book, they still never expected the series to become as big as it is.

"It's very strange because it doesn't really feel real."

James pointed out how incredible it is that Normal People is Paul's first TV credit.

He added, "You know that last week you were the most search person on various sites on the internet."

Paul replied saying he actually didn't know that, describing the revelation as, "Absolutely terrifying."

Paul's parents

The actor admitted it's been a bit of a, "culture shock," for his parents.

He explained how his publicist told him to warn his parents about the press.

However, Paul's response was, "Nobody's gonna be interested in what mum and dad have to say."

The actor briefed his dad on what to say to the press if they ever showed up to their front door.

Paul told him to give them his publicists details so that they can contact her instead.

However, it all went pear shaped when the first journalist arrived at their home.

Paul admitted, "He started off well! He was like, 'Awh we're so proud of Paul, he's doing us all really proud.'"

The 24-year-old continued, "He just got nervous and was borderline asking him in for a cup of tea."

"He panicked and was like, 'don't go sniffing for any dirt here, he's squeaky clean, you've nothing to worry about.'"

 

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You're not emotionally prepared for this. ⁠ ⁠ All episodes of #NormalPeople will be on @BBCiPlayer from April 26.

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Paul has now taken all his father's rights of talking to journalists away.

"Now he has to say, 'no comment,' like a bold child."

James suggested his father say, "I'm going to close the door but I want you to know I'm doing it very politely."

Intimate scenes

James asked how they broke any tension in the moments where they're about to be naked in front of each other on the show.

Paul responded first, "I think it's a totally alien position to put any two human beings."

He added that they had, "a wonderful intimacy coordinator guiding them through it."

 

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Find someone who looks at you the way Marianne and Connell look at whatever they're reading. #normalpeople

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Paul recalled a moment where the pair were covered in, "fake sweat stuff."

He explained that he and daisy had to flip positions at one point.

"When we turned it made this massive fart noise like aggressively loud."

"Me and Daisy started like cackling."

While they knew it was just the sound of their, "bodies making contact," the cast and crew were not convinced.

They genuinely thought either Daisy or Paul had farted.

Daisy admitted, "Once you've gone through that together, you can kind of do anything."

Watch the full interview here:

Meanwhile, James asked the onscreen lovers to recreate their chemistry from the series by doing a number of live reads from other shows.

Check out their performance here.


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Daisy Edgar-Jones James Corden Normal People Paul Mescal