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Paul Mescal unwinds with cigarette on Sydney balcony amid Graham Norton Show disaster with Saoirse Ronan

Paul Mescal has been spotted puffing cigarettes on his Sydney hotel balcony with friends, amid backlash to the viral exchange with his Gladiator II co-star Saoirse Ronan on Graham Norton.

At the time Mescal was photographed, he was blissfully unaware that in the next 24 hours he'd find himself at the centre of a global media firestorm — as a pre-recorded episode of the Graham Norton Show went to air in the UK. During the Graham Norton interview, Eddie, 42, explained that amid his training for The Day of the Jackal, an upcoming Peacock miniseries, he received instruction on how to use a phone to retaliate in the event of an attack. 'But I think the fact that there was a moment like that that happened on a show like Graham Norton, which is something that the entire nation channels and to watch and even overseas, it's something that people tune into, it seems to have had an accessibility which seems to have really gained traction, which I think is amazing.'

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