Profits at Paul Mescal's firm triple as actor shapes up for awards season run
Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley carry Ireland's awards season hopes for their performances in the historical drama Hamnet based on the life of William Shakespeare.
Mescal plays the Bard in the film, which has earned just over $4m in the US since its release in late November and will come out in Ireland and internationally early next year to coincide with expected Oscar nominations.
Hamnet is an early favourite in the Best Picture race alongside the likes of One Battle After Another and Sinners and its position was confirmed on Monday with six Golden Globes nominations.
There were nods in the acting categories for both Mescal and Buckley, who plays Shakespeare's wife Agnes in Hamnet, which is named after Shakespeare's son and his role in inspiring Hamlet.
Maynooth native Mescal is a former Oscar nominee, having made the Best Actor field for 2022's Aftersun, and a BAFTA winner for his breakthrough role in Normal People.
Since then, he has won acclaim for his role in All of Us Strangers and fronted the big-budget sequel Gladiator II.
He also debuted on the West End in a production of Streetcar Named Desire, and he has been cast as Paul McCartney in four films based on the lives of the Beatles, which are currently in production.
Mescal is the sole owner of Dublin-based Castle Dawson Pictures Ltd, which is listed as being related to 'support activities to the performing arts'.
In its latest available accounts, the company reported a profit of €1.02m and paid a dividend of €333,333 in the 12 months to the end of September 2024.
The profit is a more than three-fold increase from €309,051 profit reported in 2023, and brought the company's accumulated profits up from €474,809 to €1.17m.
Castle Dawson now has cash reserves of €1.25m, nearly double the €646,596 reported the year prior.
The company owed some €81,050 to its creditors in 2025, which is less than half of the €171,995 total from 2023.
The period in question coincides with the production of Gladiator II and The History of Sound, the period romance drama starring Mescal and Josh O'Connor, and Hamnet.
(l-r) Jessie Buckley, Chloe Zhao, Paul Mescal attend the New York Screening of "Hamnet" at Whitby Hotel on November 21, 2025 in New York City. (Pic: Rob Kim/WireImage)
Mescal has also filmed part of Merrily We Roll Along, an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical being filmed over 20 years by Boyhood and School of Rock director Richard Linklater.
Linklater said earlier this year that they are around a third of the way through production on the film, which depicts the lives of three friends over two decades.
Photo: Paul Mescal attends The 28th British Independent Film Awards at The Roundhouse on November 30, 2025 in London, England. (Pic: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
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