WATCH: Paul Mescal reveals what he was paid for now infamous Denny sausages ad

Actor Paul Mescal has recounted his first big break, filming a Denny Sausage advert which was shot just before his Normal People role alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones. 

Speaking with Louis Theroux on his podcast, Mescal said he was old enough at the time to have said no to the advert role. 

He revealed he was paid €5,000 to star in the Denny’s sausages advert in 2018, which he used to pay his rent in Dublin for the rest of the year.

In a matter of years he found fame in the 2020 series Normal People, an adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel, which earned him a BAFTA TV Award and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.

"I remember not knowing how the spit bucket works on set," he said. 

When Theroux said he doesn't know how it works either, Mescal explained what was involved. 

The bucket is  needed "because you have to eat sausage, but apparently you are not meant to eat it," the actor said. 

"I just remember feeling it was so rude to spit out your food. A guy would come up with a bucket and I would say, 'no, no it's fine'... I had probably in excess of 10 sausages, I would say. Too many sausages to be eating at 8am in the morning," he laughed.  

When Theroux asked him if he got some fame from the role, Mescal replied: "It's something that people in Ireland reference a lot. To kind of bring me right back down". 

The role came around the time that the Kildare actor got his big break in Normal People. 

The advert features a young Mescal inspired by his dad to travel the world. He picks out a destination after spinning a globe and ends up in the exotic climes of Ballyhaunis!

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