GLADIATOR II beefcake Paul Mescal has been ordered to go on a Normal People diet as he prepares to play Sir Paul McCartney in the new Beatles biopics.
The 29-year-old actor was told to lose muscle and put on some fat for his role as the legendary singer and bass player — leaving fans distraught.
But he can drink and smoke — because Macca famously enjoyed cannabis.
Last night an insider said: “Obviously there weren’t really gyms around in the Sixties.
“The Beatles weren’t dead-lifting between gigs.
“Macca was always pretty lean and flexible — he has always been really into yoga — but this is a very different aesthetic to that of a burly gladiator, and Paul has been keeping his body pretty ripped, even after filming stopped.
“Sir Paul McCartney is also famously a vegetarian, whereas Paul mainly lives on a high protein steak, chicken and eggs diet.
“There also weren’t whey protein shakes back in the Beatles’ day.”
Mescal found fame in 2020 playing Connell Waldron in the BBC TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People.
He hired an ex-Royal Navy personal trainer — putting on 22lbs in muscle by training six days a week — to play Lucius Verus Aurelius, the exiled Prince of Rome, in last year’s movie Gladiator II.
Earlier this week, the cast of the Sam Mendes-directed Fab Four biopics were announced.
Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson will be John Lennon and Joseph Quinn is George Harrison.
There will be four films — from each star’s perspective — with all to be released in April 2028.
Last night, fans express their dismay at Mescal having to lose his muscles.
One said: “We just got super-jacked Paul and now they’re turning him back into Normal People Paul? This is a crime.”
- Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
