Mescal played Connell, a popular high school student (and later college student) who begins a relationship with a classmate, Marianne, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones. The show’s shivering intimacy, watched by millions at the height of social distancing, struck a particularly resonant chord.

But sex alone didn’t make it sensational. Mescal was so striking in the series, Haigh explains, “because of his vulnerability on screen. It’s something that male actors often resist, but Paul is never afraid to show it, and it makes you fall in love with him all the more.”

That was the quality Haigh wanted to tap into in his own film – specifically for the scene where Mescal and Scott’s characters meet. “Paul shows up at Andrew’s door and has to play this strange mix of desperation, fear, lust and drunkenness – which is a very, very difficult mix to get right without being unpleasant. But the way Paul did it is the opposite: he turns that combination into a way to engage you.

Launching Normal People mid-Covid might have done wonders for Mescal’s profile, but it has also boosted his love life. Among its better-known fans was American singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, who tweeted that the show had made her “sad and horny”: Mescal replied, and for the next two years they were officially an item.