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Anyone who enjoys following celebrities likely has encountered an incident at some point of realizing that they've been pronouncing a beloved actor's or entertainer's name incorrectly.
A few favorites in recent years have been discovering that singer Adele's name is not pronounced "ah - Dell" but actually "uh - dale," as well as every teenager's favorite lycanthrope, Taylor Lautner, whose last name is not pronounced "lot - ner," but rather, "lout - ner."
But hidden in plain sight has been actor Paul Mescal, much loved for his role in Aftersun, just waiting for his moment to share his truth.
During a brief interview, Mescal recently confessed that he felt like "everybody" mispronounced his last name, but the down-to-earth actor admitted that he understood why the misunderstanding existed.
Mescal first explained the pronunciation of the individual letters of his last name were being mispronounced.
You can watch the video here:
\u201cWould you like to try some of Mescal's Mezcal? THR cover star Paul Mescal has a great idea for a new product\u201d— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1677249000
Mescal stated the "S" and "A" in his name needed to be more softly pronounced than most people used when referring to him.
But more importantly, Mescal admitted he felt the mispronunciation of his last name existed specifically because of alcohol. One particular type of tequila—Mezcal—appears as if it would be said in the same way as Mescal.
But "mez-CAL" is distinctly different than Paul Mescal's last name, which is pronounced "MESS-cull."
Mescal joked:
"People get confused with how to pronounce my name because of the drink Mezcal. Everybody does it."
"I pronounce it 'Mescal,' and I wonder if I launched a tequila line, I would have to, I would call it 'Mescal's Mezcal.' I'm on the fence."
Twitter had a variety of reactions to the news they had been pronouncing the actor's name wrong.
\u201c@HuffPost Is it like Paw-wl?\n\nOrrr Pwaal? \n\nOrrr Pauol? \n\nOr maybe \u2026 Paul?\u201d— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1677357214
\u201cTurns out we've all been pronouncing Paul Mescal's surname name wrong \ud83d\ude05\n\nSorry Paul! \ud83d\ude2d\nhttps://t.co/9HcRMc9HCy\u201d— Metro (@Metro) 1677242405
\u201cWe're sorry, what, Paul Mescal?\n\nhttps://t.co/Dwi7I25dlh\u201d— Metro Entertainment (@Metro Entertainment) 1677238201
\u201cFirst Barry Keoghan, now Paul!\nhttps://t.co/pBBsxwryQU\u201d— EVOKE (@EVOKE) 1677403129
\u201c#PaulMescal explained that people have been pronouncing his surname wrong all this time!\n\nHe said: \u201cPeople get confused with how to pronounce my name because of the drink Mezcal."\n\nIt's actually pronounced with a softer \u2018s\u2019 and \u2018a\u2019\u201d— RSVP Magazine (@RSVP Magazine) 1677447120
\u201cPaul Mescal has a grounded, easy likability that not a lot of young big name actors have these days\n\nTrying to think of other late 20s - early 30s actors with a similar quality and I\u2019m struggling\u201d— Ben Jammer 2049 (@Ben Jammer 2049) 1676765922
If the actor ever decides to launch that tequila line, it will be interesting to hear if consumers say the same word twice—mez-CAL's, mez-CAL—or if there's a distinction between the two—MESS-cull's mez-CAL.
At the very least, it will be a tongue-twister.