Marianne and Connell forever?
Daisy Edgar-Jones has denied any romantic involvement with former “Normal People” co-star and on-screen love interest Paul Mescal.
Despite the chemistry that sparked dating rumors after the two starred in the 2020 adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel, Edgar-Jones remains unfazed four years later.
“You watch with bemusement really, because it’s interesting to see what narratives people write in,” she said in an interview with the Sunday Times, published on July 14.
“Usually they’re quite harmless and when I’m spotted it’s normally just a lot of, ‘Oh, that’s Whatsherface?’ And I say, ‘It is,’” the actress, 26, added.
The actors became close friends while filming the show and recently attended England’s Glastonbury Festival together.
Edgar-Jones is currently dating artist Ben Seed, while Mescal, 28, previously dated singer Phoebe Bridgers.
Mescal and Bridgers, 29, dated on and off in 2021 and made headlines with their joint attendance at the 2022 Met Gala. A viral photo of Mescal standing next to Bridgers — but staring at Edgar-Jones — further fueled dating rumors after the event.
In an interview with WhoWhatWear on July 11, the “Twisters” star called the meme “wild, considering the innocence.”
“I was having kind of an out-of-body experience with the Met Gala,” Edgar-Jones explained. “So Paul had said like, ‘Come and meet me and we could do it together.'”
Mescal and Edgar-Jones’ close friendship has flourished since they worked together on the 2020 Hulu series.
In May at the Fastnet Film Festival in Cork, Ireland, Edgar-Jones joked about falling in love with Mescal while shooting the drama.
“Met Paul, fell in love with Paul … as a friend. I’m announcing it here,” she said at the event, discussing her time on set filming the show.
For his part, Mescal described Edgar-Jones as one of his “best friends” in an interview with Deadline in 2020.
“I’ve definitely found a friend, one of my best friends for life,” Mescal said at the time. “If the show had been an absolute failure, that’s something that brings me massive joy, that I found somebody who is an amazing person and who I really enjoy working with.”
“I think Paul and I will always be best friends,” Edgar-Jones told the outlet. “One of the most special things I gained from ‘Normal People’ was meeting Paul. Because it was a scary thing, and we were both very scared to go into doing it. It’s a lot of pressure taking on characters that people have already fallen in love with, and that were locked in their own imagination.”
Earlier this month, she called the “Gladiator II” star one of her “lifetime best friends.”
“He’s an incredibly grounded person and I am too. I think, so it’s nice to be able to have those touchstones and those people you can laugh about it with and be lighthearted with,” she told Variety. “We met when I was 20 and Paul was 22; I’m so excited to see where we’ll be at 32, 42, and what life will bring us.”