Paul Mescal has revealed the real reason he decided to quit social media earlier this year.
The Normal People star devastated fans when he deactivated his Instagram account in April, after attracting 1.1million followers on the platform.
The 25-year-old has since admitted he ditched social media because he struggled to cope with the “negative” comments about him online.
Speaking on the A24 podcast, the actor confessed: “I’m definitely people pleasing. I came off social media last year in an attempt to put a bit of control around that.”
“I have this innately in me but I don’t need to see what people think of me all the f**king time. It’s totally ego driven but also it’s an important part of being an actor.”
“I don’t feel like we’re doing it for ourselves. Part of us is doing it because we love doing it but we’re making things for people to see and view and talk about,” he explained.
“With that comes a dissection of you as a person and as an actor. Where those two things line up is the centre point of my anxiety. That is the ugly part of my brain.”
Paul continued: “I feel like some people are able to navigate it [social media] so well. I just get f**king scared of it.”
“I’m just like well, this one person thinks this of me therefore that person is a representative of 90pc of the population, therefore I am hated.”
“I know when you boil it down that’s not true but I feel like the loudest voice in the room is often the most negative.”
The 25-year-old, who recently spent Christmas in Ireland with his girlfriend Phoebe Bridgers, also admitted he’s currently “living out of a suitcase” in between acting jobs.
Paul said: “Home is, at the moment, all over the place. I don’t live there.”
“I was living in London last year and with work I’m doing the cliche thing of living out of a suitcase.”
“Which is wonderful but also at moments, anxiety, if s*** hits the fan, I love my family very much but I don’t necessarily want to go back to my own bedroom.”
“I’m kind of in the process now of figuring out where I want to be in the world,” he added.
