Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal spark dating rumors after being spotted in London

Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal were recently seen together in London, and fans couldn’t help but speculate about the public outing.

According to photos obtained by the Daily Mail, the two actors were seen sharing a cigarette outside of Bar 69 on Tuesday, May 28. The outlet reported that Portman, 42, and Mescal, 28, could barely hold in their giggles as they wore matching plain white T-shirts. Portman was also dressed in a pair of light-wash jeans, while Mescal wore black trousers.

The pair met last year doing a joint “Actors on Actors” interview for Variety. During the interview, the All of Us Strangers actor explained how starstruck he was to be talking to Portman, calling her “brilliant”.

“If my drama school self knew that I would be talking to you, I would pinch myself many, many times!” he said during the interview.

Many people took to X, formerly Twitter, to gush over the photos of Portman and Mescal in London together.

“Nat and Paul!! They look really cute together!!” one commenter wrote.

“Anybody who watched their ‘Actors on Actors’ knew this link was inevitable, I mean my god the chemistry and heat,” another X post read.

“Oh Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal smoking cigs together… that’s how it starts!” a third X user pointed out.

Portman’s divorce from Benjamin Millepied was recently finalized after being married for 11 years. The former couple separated last year, a representative confirmed to People at the time, with Portman filing for divorce in July 2023. The divorce was filed in France, where they lived with their two children – son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, seven.

Prior to the divorce, there were reports that Millepied had an affair. A source told People at the time that while the May December star had initially struggled to work through their separation, she had a group of friends who “rallied around her” to help her “get through the worst of it.”

“Natalie is coming out of a really tough and painful year but she’s come out the other side of it stronger and is finding joy in her family, friends, and work,” they told the outlet.

The former couple’s main priority after separating was to make the transition for their children as smooth as possible, according to the source. “Her biggest priority has been ensuring a smooth transition for her children,” they said. “She and Ben really love their kids and are equally focused on being the best co-parents they can be. Nothing is more important.”

As for Mescal, he previously dated singer Phoebe Bridgers for two years. The former couple were first linked in 2020 and confirmed their relationship in 2021. In November 2022, an interview with Mescal in The Guardian claimed that the pair “were engaged”. The outlet later retracted the claim, leading fans to believe that they had split.

The Normal People actor previously expressed that he was going to be keeping his relationship status “private” following his split with Bridgers. Speaking to Vanity Fair last February, he said that he felt the need to disclose who he was seeing, but didn’t think it was a smart situation to be so open about it at the same time.

“But the temptation still exists to be like, ‘Shut the f*** up. This is my life. This is what’s going on,’” he said. “Or, ‘This is what’s not going on.’”

Mescal maintained that speaking publicly about his relationship wouldn’t benefit him, saying: “But moving forward as much as I can, that’s going to be my life that is private. That’s a difficult thing to achieve. But giving strangers an answer about my life doesn’t actually help me.

“It’s like a quick boost of serotonin, being like, ‘I’ve said what I need to say.’ And then it’s just Twitter fodder.”