Hamnet Writer Wanted Paul Mescal for Shakespeare Role

The writer of the Oscar-nominated film adaptation of “Hamnet,” Maggie O’Farrell, envisioned Paul Mescal as Shakespeare from the start. O’Farrell recalled first noticing Mescal’s talent in a Dublin production of James Joyce’s “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” before his rise to fame in “Normal People.” The film, based on O’Farrell’s award-winning novel, explores the lives of Shakespeare and his family, focusing on the profound impact of the death of their son, Hamnet, on Shakespeare’s creation of “Hamlet.”

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