Paul Mescal takes on role in Lisa McGee's Netflix psychological thriller The Deceived

Derry Girls’ creator Lisa McGee, a veritable queen of the comedy script, has branched out in an entirely new direction to write a new four-part-psychological thriller alongside husband Tobias Beer which has just landed on popular streaming platform Netflix.

The Deceived, which stars Normal People and now Oscar-nominated hunk Paul Mescal, is described as a “sinister narrative of lust, manipulation and betrayal”.

If was first aired on TV back in 2020 on Channel 5.

The thriller also features familiar faces from the world of Derry Girls including Ian McElhinney (who played the ever truculent Granda Joe) and Louisa Harland (who portrayed the slightly spaced out and goofy Orla) in the smash hit Channel 4 comedy series.

The story centres around the character of Ophelia Marsh (played by Emily Reid), who falls desperately in love with her married lecturer, seeing in him all the answers to her problems.

But when their affair is interrupted by a shocking, tragic death, Ophelia is plunged into despair and feels she can no longer trust her own mind, questioning her own perceptions and observations.

The immensely popular Paul Mescal plays the character of Sean McKeogh, a local builder who becomes Ophelia's confidante in the midst of her distress.

Mescal said that his love of Derry Girls lead him to take on the role in The Deceived.

In conversation with Channel 5, Paul said: "I am a massive Derry Girls fan so naturally the first thing that jumped out at me were Lisa and Tobias’s names, that is always going to be exciting.”

The star added: "The fact that this was a psychological drama didn’t particularly surprise or confuse me because the standard of the writing in Derry Girls is so good. It is hilarious and the quality of the script is so high that I had no trepidation over whether this would work or not."

Mescal, 27, was born in Maynooth and rose to fame with his role in the immensely popular mini-series Normal People (2020), earning a BAFTA and a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award.

The series was based on the novel of the same name by Sally Rooney.

Mescal made his film debut with a supporting role in the psychological drama The Lost Daughter (2021), and he received praise for starring in the 2022 drama films God's Creatures and Aftersun.

His performance as a troubled father in the latter film earned him nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA.

Mescal won a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for his portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in a 2022 revival of the seminal play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Wiliams which ran at London’s Almeida Theatre.