Paul Mescal said he would like to have a family and children while speaking in a new Rolling Stone cover shoot, offering a rare public comment on his personal life as he continues his relationship with singer Gracie Abrams.
Mescal, 29, told the magazine, "I would love to have a family. I'm not like, 'I want them tomorrow,' but I would love to have kids." When asked more directly about his relationship with Abrams, 26, the actor declined to go into detail, saying much of that part of his life was "deeply precious" and that he wanted to protect it.
Mescal and Abrams, the daughter of director J.J. Abrams, have been publicly linked for more than a year. The pair were first photographed together at BRAT restaurant in London and spent the following months attending U.K. festivals and making low-key outings. Mescal attended Abrams's New York concert in October 2024, and Abrams walked the red carpet for Mescal's appearance at the premiere of Gladiator II a month later. Their first recorded joint red-carpet appearance came at the History of Sound premiere in June 2025. In July, Abrams posted the first social-media photo of the two together.
In the interview, Mescal also reflected on a difficult period in 2024, saying he was not "generally in a great spot psychologically" and that spending time alone had been useful for him and for his work on film projects. He said the experiences of his twenties had changed him, including a loss of what he called a certain innocence as his ambitions and successes materialized.
Mescal is set to appear in two major films this autumn. He plays William Shakespeare in the historical drama Hamnet and is in rehearsals for Sam Mendes's Beatles biopics, in which he is set to portray Paul McCartney.
Mescal has been careful to keep his private life shielded from public scrutiny even as his profile has risen. In the Rolling Stone shoot and accompanying interview, he balanced openness about future hopes with a determination to maintain boundaries around intimate aspects of his life.
Representatives for Mescal and Abrams did not immediately respond to requests for comment.