Are Paul Mescal And Margot Robbie Hanging Out In London? We Investigate

We love a celebrity friendship. Every time we see Jennifer Aniston hanging out with Courteney Cox, our hearts swell. We adore the fact that Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya pound the pavements of New York together after meeting on the set of Dune. We love that Taylor Swift is basically mates with every other woman in Hollywood. So we're thrilled to hear that Paul Mescal - Normal People's Connell - may have struck up an A-List friendship of his own, with Australia's sweetheart Margot Robbie.

This week Popbitch - a weekly newsletter which relays celebrity run-ins and sightings - revealed that the pair had been seen together by an eagle-eyed fan. 'Spotted last week at The Crooked Billet in Clapton', the bulletin reads. 'Margot Robbie and Paul Mescal having a drink together.'

First of all, it definitely needs to be established that the pair's supposed meeting would absolutely have been platonic. Margot is happily married to British film producer Tom Ackerley. But the fact that they're mates at all still has us excited.

But is it legitimate? We did some digging.

First of all, the location checks out. Paul lives in northeast London - you may have seen the many photographs of him jogging along the canal in his famous shorts - and so a drink at a pub in Clapton would be feasible.

At the very least, the pair share an agency. In April, Paul signed with the Creative Artists Agency, which represents an army of celebrities in the US including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise and, yes, Margot. Considering that we haven't seen Paul out and about with Meryl, Julia and Tom, though, we can safely assume that a pint at the pub is not a universal 'welcome to the team' initiation.

Margot is also undoubtedly aware of Paul. One of his more dedicated online fans pointed out in July that Margot had liked one of Paul's Instagram posts.

She must have joined the rest of the world in watching Normal People.

Another unverified sighting took place at the beginning of August, with a social media user saying that she had met Paul, Margot and Jodie 'in the space of 24 hours.' Resulting tweets clarify that the Jodie sighting was separate from the one of Paul and Margot, but the person in question shares no more detail.

It all seems to add up to a Hollywood friendship in the making, but we're also going to be reasonable here: could it be a case of mistaken identity? Paul lives with his friend India Mullen, an actress who appeared with him in Normal People and, to be completely honest, doesn't look dissimilar to Margot. He has also been linked to singer Phoebe Bridgers: if you'd had a glass of wine you could confuse her for Margot too. Could this all be a misunderstanding?

We will keep our eyes open, so you don't have to.

READ MORE: Paul Mescal: Everything You Need To Know About The Normal People Star

READ MORE: Paul Mescal Reveals What He Thinks Will Happen To Normal People's Connell And Marianne