Gracie Abrams Gushes Over Paul Mescal & ‘Hamnet’ in Rare Comment on Boyfriend: ‘I Love Him Surprise’

Trending on Billboard Gracie Abrams and Paul Mescal don’t often speak publicly about one another, but on Friday (Jan. 16), the singer-songwriter felt moved to post about her love for Hamnet and her boyfriend’s performance as William Shakespeare in the film. Starting off with a picture of Mescal bent down on one knee while out on a hike, Abrams prepared her followers for the lovefest to come by simply writing on her Instagram Story, “Okay so.” The Grammy nominee then shared a photo of her partner and Hamnet director Chloé Zhao hugging and gushed, “I’ve found it nearly impossible to find the words to describe the weight of this film and the way it has remained in my bones since I saw it for the first time, but we are sat in the kitchen right now and I am looking back on these pictures and got immediately teary, so I’m just going to say that Chloe is singular.” “Jessie [Buckley] is singular. Paul is singular,” she continued before posting another photo of Mescal, in which he smokes a cigarette while showing off his Shakespeare T-shirt, with the caption: “Also I love him surprise.” Abrams then signed off by encouraging fans to see Hamnet in theaters while it’s still showing on big screens. The California native’s posts come almost a week after the historical film won best drama motion picture at the 2026 Golden Globes. After the ceremony, she and Mescal attended an afterparty together. Three days later, Abrams would announce that she will be making her acting debut in A24’s Please , directed by Halina Reijn ( Bodies Bodies Bodies , Babygirl ). Details about the film’s plot and the musician’s character are under wraps. Fans first felt certain that Abrams and the Normal People star were dating in summer 2024, when the pair were spotted several times out and about in London. Mescal has since supported the artist at concerts, while she attended the premiere of Gladiator II in November 2024, marking their first public appearance. Abrams has also shared photos of Mescal on her Instagram grid a handful of times, including one of them looking cozy at Glastonbury in 2025. This past September, Rolling Stone asked the actor why the couple had gone Instagram official, and he replied, “I actually do have an answer, but everything to do with that is deeply precious to me, and I don’t want to ... I want to protect those things fundamentally.”

Preview: ~410 words