Paul Mescal’s Emotional Shout Out To His Mum Was Our Favourite Moment At The Olivier Awards

The Olivier Awards made a triumphant return to the Royal Albert hall yesterday with theatre royalty flocking to the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the best stage performances of the past year. The star-studded ceremony saw many moving speeches, but the most touching moment of the night was Paul Mescal's tribute to his mum, Dearbhla.

The Oscar nominee took home the Best Actor award for his role as Stanley Kowalski in the new stage adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire. As Mescal walked on stage, he appeared overwhelmed by the honour. After thanking his co-stars and colleagues, Paul gave a shout-out to his mother – who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer – and father. He said, 'I want to thank my parents who never said no.' He ended his speech, 'To my dad and my mum - I hope you get better soon.'

In January, Paul's sister - singer-songwriter Nell Mescal - shared that their mother Dearbhla was undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, tweeting: 'My mum got a haircut today in prep for her chemotherapy and then Paul got nominated for an Oscar. Life is so crazy'

Backstage, Paul told reporters, 'My mum and dad are at home. My mum’s unwell at the moment, so hopefully it’ll give her a little bit of a lift and dad as well who is looking after. Adding, 'It kind of feels maybe narcissistic or egotistical to assume that that will help anything, but I hope that it does.'

Other Olivier award winners included Jodie Comer who won won Best Actress for her role as Tessa in Prima Facie, a thrilling one-woman play by Suzie Miller. Comer was also very emotional on stage and used her speech to empower aspiring actors who haven’t been to drama school. 'Don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t possible… it is possible,' she said.

The Irish actor competed in a stacked category alongside heavyweights Tom Hollander, Rafe Spall, David Tennant and Giles Terera but was victorious. Mescal shot to fame in 2020 after staring in Sally Rooney's TV Drama Normal People- which earned him an Emmy nomination and a TV BAFTA win. This year Paul has had another successful year after landing his first Oscar nomination for Aftersun.

Beverly Knight also took home an award after two incredible performances in Sister Act and Sylvia. During her moving speech for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, she reminded women of their power. She said, 'Emmeline Pankhurst stood on this stage and said I incite this meeting to rebellion and she told the women in the room be militant in your own way and that was in 1912. The next year they banned the social political union.' She added, 'One hundred years later we stand on this stage, we have reclaimed the power for those women.'

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, sweeped the awards taking home six gongs - including for Best Director and Best Entertainment or Comedy Play.