At the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards, Paul Mescal finally cleared the air regarding his retirement from Hollywood. Following a recent interview, rumors about him taking an early exit from the entertainment industry had started to surface on the internet. In accordance, the Irish actor has now come out to clarify the speculation surrounding his career, providing a brief blueprint to his plans for the near future.
Paul Mescal has this reaction to retirement rumors
During his appearance at the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards, the Gladiator II star confirmed that he has no intentions of putting a stop to his acting career anytime soon.
“I couldn’t be further from retiring, to be clear,” Paul Mescal told Variety at the said event. ” Essentially, I just have nothing to promote after Hamnet for the next two years. But, hear first, I’m not retiring. I’m going to be busy for the next two years.”
Rumors about the Academy Award nominee’s retirement started to take shape after his recent interview with The Guardian, wherein he mentioned that he is thinking of “rationing” his workload. “I think so. I’m gonna have to start doing that,” he noted.
Mescal also stated, “I’m also learning that I don’t think I can go on doing it as much,” before adding, “You can’t keep going back and expect to consistently deliver something you’re proud of. What that rationing looks like, I don’t know. I miss being on stage, so I might have a time when I’m only doing theatre for a couple of years. I also have different priorities in my personal life that I want to attend to.”
Nevertheless, the 29-year-old actor has now clarified that he is not planning to retire from Hollywood anytime soon. Notably, Paul Mescal was recently nominated at the 2026 Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Hamnet. However, he ultimately lost the accolade to Jacob Elordi for his turn in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
Other nominees in the category included Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another), Sean Penn (One Battle After Another), Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly), and Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value).
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on Mandatory.
