aul Mescal hopes his Olivier Award for Best Actor helps to keep his “unwell” mother’s spirits up, as well as his father who “takes care of her”.
The 27-year-old won the Best Acting Award at the Royal Albert Hall ceremony on Sunday for his turn as Stanley Kowalski in the new stage adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire.
During his speech, Mescal thanked his mother, who is being treated for cancer, and added, “I hope you get better.”
In the winners’ room, he told the PA news agency: “My father and mother are at home. My mum is unwell at the moment so hopefully it will cheer her up a bit and also dad looking after her.
“It might feel narcissistic or selfish to assume that will help something, but I hope it does.”
A shocked Mescal said “what’s happening” while holding his award.
Talking about his success by starring Normal people to an Oscar nomination for his role in Aftersun, he told PA: “It’s stupid. I feel like I hear people say it all the time, but it doesn’t feel real. This doesn’t feel real at all.
“But it happens so fast that there is no time to stop and think, this is a phenomenal feeling.
“But we’ll be on the podium tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. and I can’t wait. It’s the best piece, it’s the best group of people to work with.”
The Irish actor also described working in the theater as a “thrill”.
He said: “Theatre is where I learned to be an actor. It’s where I started. I’ve put on five or six plays in Dublin, that’s where I want to finish.
“It feels strange to me not to be on and around a stage or planning to do theatre. I don’t want to be far away for too long.”
Meanwhile Killing Eve actress Jodie Komerwho won the Best Actress award for her role as Tessa in Prima Facie, spoke about the meaning behind her inspirational acceptance speech in which she encouraged young actors to believe it’s possible.
In the winners room, she told PA: “When the (Prima Facie) script was sent to me, it was in the first lockdown and I was blown away by it.
“But I was like, ‘I don’t know why I got this because I haven’t done much theatre,’ I was confused by that.
“I think I’ve always been told a lot at theater auditions, which I think were always right and meant for me, but there was always that constant feedback of ‘We like you, but it’s too much of a job’ or ‘ You’ We’re just not trained or educated enough on this’.
“So that was something that stuck with me. I think it may be that the stars have to align and you have to meet nice people, the right people and time and place, but it really is possible, so hopefully that can be an example of that.
The 30-year-old Comer added that she “definitely” wants to pursue more theater productions in the future.
She told PA: “It’s tricky though because after this it must be something really special to want to get back into it.
“But I would like to do more theatre. I now understand when actors told me before that it is incomparable in that way, now I understand.
So too, sir Dirk Jacobi has described receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to theater as “magical”.
In the winners’ room, he told PA about his collaboration with the late actor Laurence Olivier – after which the ceremony is named.
“It’s not just an accolade for me, I’ve worked with him for over seven years, he’s part of my life and I owe him very, very much,” he said.
“When I was young, he gave me the opportunity to work with him as an actor, to work with him as a producer and to be his friend.
“As I said in the speech, he once called me his other son. So I’m in love with this guy, and I’ve been my whole career and without him there wouldn’t have been a lifetime achievement award.
Beverley Knight, who won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for her performance as Emmeline Pankhurst in Sylvia at The Old Vic, said she was “knocked sideways”.
She told PA: “If my late best friend were alive, he would say, ‘You could have hit me for seven’. That’s how I feel. I’m so relieved. There are no words.”
The emotional 50-year-old also spoke of dedicating her speech to Wolverhampton Youth Theater and said she will “never” forget her roots.
She told PA: “So many people from Wolverhampton youth theater have glorious careers in theatre, film and TV.
“I just want kids to know they can do this, even at my advanced age, like people say, you can do this and you can make a career out of this.”
Meanwhile, Arthur Darvill, who won Best Actor in a Musical for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! said he dedicated the award to his “supportive” family, friends and school drama teacher.
He told PA: “I’m from Birmingham and I had a really supportive family. My mom is a puppeteer and actress and my dad is a musician, so I came from a very artsy family and people who really got it.
“I had a great drama teacher, Mike Perry, who was really inspiring and taught me a lot.
“I think those people are very important in all of our lives. Those teachers who see you encourage you. Teachers are very important and I owe so much to so many people who have supported me all my life.”
The 2023 Olivier Awards will be broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX from 10.15pm to 12.20am.