SMITHFIELD square was full of Paul Mescal fans last week buzzing with excitement to catch a glimpse of, not Paul Mescal himself but his look-alikes.
The much-anticipated Gladiator 2 premiere took place in the Light house Cinema in Smithfield on Thursday November 7th, however it was overshadowed by the hosting of the first ever Paul Mescal look-a-like competition.
The winner of the contest was Ennis’ very own Jack Wall O’Reilly. After being told about the event by friends and family Jack decided to enter the competition alongside hundreds of other possible Paul twins.
“People kept sending this to me, and I wasn’t doing anything better with my day. I’m in between jobs, so I was like, fuck it, I’ll mosey on over and have a look and , yeah, it worked out. It was a bit of fun”.
Speaking about his preparation for the competition Jack said “It was pretty simple actually. I didn’t have to buy anything for it, thank God”.
Sporting a classic Mescal combo of GAA shorts, a hoody and of course a packet of Denny’s sausages, O’Reilly was decided to be the best doppleganger of the Normal People star, amongst the throng of hopefuls.
He came home the proud winner of an obnoxiously big €20 Lidl voucher and of course the bragging rights of being the person who most looked like Paul Mescal in Smithfield that day.
Aside from being Paul Mescal’s supposed twin, Jack is also a big fan of the Kildare actor and he is very excited for the release of the new Gladiator film.
“I’m a massive fan of Paul, as everyone is. After Sun is one of my favourite films. And I remember sitting in classical studies when I was in secondary school, watching Gladiator was the highlight of our week”.
Although he was chosen as the winner, it seemed Jack was more worried about what the real Paul Mescal’s reaction would be “the poor fellow, like he’s far more handsome than me, so he must be mortified. And his poor family, I’m sure they don’t think I look like him. But I mean, if the people have spoken, who am I to disagree”.
