Normal People is the country’s new lockdown binge of the month. Spanning twelve episodes, at less than half an hour each,
BBC Three’s adaptation of Sally Rooney’s 2019 novel has proved to be a smash hit – gaining over 16 million hits on iPlayer already.
What makes this unconventional romance so compelling, is the realism of the relationship between main characters Connell (Paul Mescal) and Marianne (Daisy Edgar Jones). The two leads keep on reaching the make or break point of their relationship, never quite making it over the finish line before life, or more often than not their own misunderstandings of the other’s feelings,tears them apart. There is no classic rom-com moment where they finally get their happy ever after because when does this happen in reality, especially during your twenties?
Mescal wears: cardigan, Gucci; t-shirt, Hanro; corduroy trousers, Bottega Veneta
Credit: Derek Henderson. Styling by Bridie Gilbert
There aren’t many 24-year-old men as familiar with Egyptian Magic as Paul Mescal. The ‘multipurpose’ skin cream, beloved of beauty editors, had a very specific purpose on the set of Normal People: to make the actor and his 22-year-old co-star, Daisy Edgar-Jones – who played love-struck teens Connell and Marianne on the hit BBC show – appear as though they were bathed in sweat during their 41 minutes of sex scenes, spread out over 12 episodes. That’s a lot of Egyptian Magic. ‘And honestly,’ he deadpans, ‘I get PTSD whenever I hear the name.’ So any hopes the brand has of making him its ‘face’…? ‘Well, obviously we’re in talks right now.’
In Normal People, like the lead characters, perception of the normal also comes of age. Devansh Sharma January 10, 2021 09:04:32 IST Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in Normal People
Language: English
The most normal trait of
Normal People, Hulu s adaptation of Sally Rooney s 2018 eponymous novel, is its association of romance with rebellion. Every love story ever told is rebellious in nature since the union of two individuals often stands against the tides of social constructs like class and religion.
Normal People begins as a teenage romance between a rich girl and a relatively less well-off guy, but rebels against such template from the onset.