Paul Mescal Is More Than “Nude Emotional Scenes” In ‘SNL’ Monologue & Dispels “Ugly Stereotypes About The Irish”

Paul Mescal took the Saturday Night Live stage and added some comedy to his acting resumé.

The Gladiator II star started off his monologue tonight by saying he was “excited” to be on the NBC late-night sketch show as he’s “not really known for comedy,” adding, “which is crazy to me because I think I’ve given a lot of really funny performances.”

Mescal then threw a supercut of some of the most dramatic scenes in his acting history, saying after, “I think it’s pretty clear I’m not afraid to do emotional scenes or nude scenes or nude emotional scenes.”

“It’s safe to say there’s not a lot of comedy on the resumé,” he added.

Mescal also noted that he took great pride in being Irish, saying, “The Irish people have been through a lot, you know, centuries of British occupation, the greater famine, mass emigration, that U2 album that automatically got downloaded to [iTunes].”

The actor took the opportunity to clear up some “ugly stereotypes about the Irish.”

One example that he gave was the “nasty rumor that Irish people have sex with our cousins,” delivering the punchline saying, “That’s offensive and it’s ridiculous. We have sex with our second cousins.”

Mescal also dispelled the rumors that the Irish hate British people, joking, “We just don’t consider them people.”

Another rumor he cleared up was that if he found the Notre Dame mascot offensive, the Fighting Irish, with Mescal joking, “Not at all. We do the same thing with Americans. In fact, my high school’s mascot was the Fighting Fat-Asses.”

Mescal has gone viral for his short shorts, and Marcello Hernández came out emulating one of his looks.

“You know, people often talk about the luck of the Irish and tonight, I have to say, I do feel very, very lucky to be here,” Mescal said, wrapping up his monologue. “I’m in New York City. I’m hosting SNL and this feels totally, totally insane to me.”

Watch Mescal’s SNL monologue in the video below.