24-year-old Kildare actor Paul Mescal has been listed on Variety magazine's renowned 'Actors to Watch' list for 2020 - a huge accolade for those in the industry.

The global success of hit BBC/Hulu show Normal People has launched Mescal's rising star, after he secured an Emmy Award nomination this year for his role as Connor Waldron opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones.

As well as starring in the video for the Rolling Stones single ‘Scarlet’, the Maynooth actor also featured in the Virgin Media mini-series, The Deceived.

Previous entrants on Variety's ‘10 Actors to Watch' list have included over 35 Oscar winners and nominees.

Those on the list include "breakthrough stars”, those in award-nominated projects and actors making their US film debuts.

All the entrants will be featured in the December 16 issue of the entertainment industry publication and will also speak on a panel as part of its FYC Fest, which takes place on December 15-17.

“Thank you so much Variety,” said Mescal. “Thrilled to be included with such incredible actors.”

Maria Bakalova, who played Sacha Baron Cohen’s daughter in the Borat sequel, also made the list, as well as Tiffany Boone of Little Fires Everywhere and Rosy McEwen from The Alienist: Angel of Darkness

Also included are; Jayme Lawson, Jonathan Majors, Dominique Fishback, Tom Pelphrey, Helena Zengel and Aldis Hodge.

Mescal has been cast alongside fellow rising star Melissa Barrera in a modern-day reimagining of the Georges Bizet opera Carmen, as he takes on the lead role.

He said he was “honoured to have been cast alongside Melissa, an actor I greatly admire”.

Mescal has been spending the past two months filming The Lost Daughter on location in the Greek islands - the directorial debut for actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Mescal plays the role of Will in the adaptation of the 2006 novel by Italian author Elena Ferrante.

It marks his first starring role in a feature film, with the movie telling the story of a woman who finds herself obsessed with a mother and daughter on holidays, with a flood of unwanted memories coming back to haunt her.