Do you ever lie awake wondering why Paul Mescal keeps taking roles in devastating films? He’s such a good actor that we had no choice but to watch a distressing coming-of-age story about a depressive father on vacation or that one in which anyone suffering from mommy issues would leave the theater crying and throwing up — and that’s not to mention the TV show that made him famous, which indirectly capitalized on our pandemic-induced horniness and isolation for a tearjerker Sally Rooney adaptation. Like, we get it — he listens to Mitski and dated Phoebe Bridgers, but why do I feel like I’m in for an emotional breakdown every time I turn on one of his things? How does he choose his next job? “It’s a gut feeling,†he explains to Natalie Portman in a Variety Actors on Actors interview. “I feel very lucky that I know what I like. That’s not something that actors talk about enough. I don’t believe in the concept of ‘building a career’ — I think that comes through cultivating your taste. Films like All of Us Strangers or Aftersun feel very much in conversation with each other. But also, I don’t want an audience to be bored or to expect that kind of film from me.†It seems as though we’ll have to remain on our toes. Maybe he’ll make us watch a musical next [shudders].