Ayo Edebiri is no stranger to breaking the internet.
The Bear star is the social media-appointed “People’s Princess” thanks to her hilarious letterbox reviews (she called Fast & Furious 9 “Post-God”) and incredible red carpet style. But on Sunday Edebiri sent fans spiralling when she posted an Instagram story alongside Normal People heartthrob Paul Mescal to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
Now, for those not chronically online, this rocked people for a myriad of reasons. Firstly, it was a tongue-in-cheek ode to the running joke between Edebiri and the nation of Ireland wherein the two have adopted each other (more on the later). Secondly, is this them soft-launching their relationship? Thirdly, they’re two of the hottest Hollywood actors… are they soft-launching a movie instead?
But first, the Irish connection — because it’s a bit of a strange one. It all started when Edebiri joked that she starred as Jenny the donkey in the The Banshees of Inisherin. "I lived in Ireland for about four months — and I got really in character. I was on all fours for four months and it was really painful, but beautiful as well," she riffed during a red carpet interview with Letterboxd last March. For some reason, the internet just ran away with the joke — as did Edebiri — with the star thanking the country in her Best Supporting Actress Emmy award speech: "To everybody in Boston, Barbados, Nigeria, Ireland in many ways," she said.
It’s no surprise though Ireland has been quick to adopt the comedian, with outlets like The Irish Times declaring they are “proud” to call her one of their own and Film in Dublin congratulating her on her BAFTA Rising Star nomination.
A religious upbringing where comedy was used as a shield
In case you hadn’t already gathered, Edebiri is not actually from Ireland — she’s from Dorchester, Massachusetts. An only child raised by her Barbadian mother and Nigerian father, both of whom were devout Pentecostalists who took Edebiri to church twice weekly. “I’m watching you, and I will never tell you I approve. You don’t want to hear me say that I disapprove. But until I say that, we’re good,” she told Vogue earlier this week about their strict and discerning parenting style.
Still, she credits the church for sparking her interest for storytelling, and she soon began journaling and writing — having drafted a fantasy novel by the time she was nine about an orphaned girl. However it wasn’t until the eighth grade that she discovered humour and, more importantly, how it could be a tool to ease her nervous disposition. “You’re like, Oh. Wait. This can be my personality. I want to understand this,” she revealed.
From there she began improv classes and began keeping a list of her favourite physical performances, which included the likes of Buster Keaton and Jim Carrey. Suddenly she was making people laugh on purpose. “I was like, I like how this feels! I also feel like it means that I understand people, like I understand what they want,” she continued.
Her unexpected first career choice before her big break
Yet comedy and acting wasn’t her first choice — teaching was. Prioritising job security and health care over passion, Edebiri undertook a teaching degree at NYU before realising that perhaps the classroom wasn’t the place for her. “It was the opposite of any of those movies where a teacher is coming into a classroom and standing on the desk,” she told Trevor Noah last year. “I stood on the desk and they were, like, ‘Sit down.’”
After a two-and-a-half-year stint she transferred to dramatic writing, where she met fellow Bottoms collaborator Rachel Sennot. Together they made a name for themselves on the Big Apple’s stand up comedy scene. Her days consisted of running around the city, sometimes performing up to three gigs a day — but it paid off. While performing, at the age of just 24, she caught the attention of Hollywood producers, who drafted the rising talent into the writing rooms of We Do in the Shadows, Dickinson, and Big Mouth.
It’s important to note here that this was all behind the screen work until she was offered the opportunity to voice-act the character Missy in Big Mouth. At first, Edebiri resisted the idea of auditioning. “I’m not trying out for this thing and then not getting it,” she said to a colleague. “And then I have to write in the room every day, for, I don’t know, Viola Davis.” Still, in the face-centric world of Tinsel Town she remained largely behind the scenes even when she did bag the role.
That was until she met with director Christopher Storer, who had been aware of Edebiri since she was 21-years-old performing on the New York comedy scene. At the end of the meal he said, “We’re going to work together someday.” The opportunity presented itself in the role of plucky young chef Sydney, for which she has now won a Critics Choice Awards and Emmy for. However, next season she’s planning to take her career one step further by directing an episode of the critically acclaimed The Bear.
An icon in the making: saying no to Marvel and slaying the red carpet
Although The Bear was her breakout role, Edebiri now has an impressive resume of films, including the queer slapstick comedy Bottoms, which she starred alongside her NYU classmate Rachel Sennot, and an upcoming A24 film called Opus. Fans alike rejoiced when it was announced that she had decided to pass on her role in upcoming Marvel film Thunderbolts due to scheduling conflicts, proving that Edebiri is making a play for true cinematic dominance.
Fashion has also played a huge role in her ascent, with the actor showcasing a cool-girl wardrobe of custom Prada, corpcore-approved Thom Browne, Loewe and The Row. Whether that be on New York Fashion Week’s front row or the red carpet premiere of her latest film.
“I have a very stylish mom, who is just like a beautiful Lord & Taylor queen, always wearing a ’90s suit. She had a point of view. And I grew up in church, where you show out on Sundays,” she said in an interview with British Vogue on her impressive sense of style. “I tried to find ways to express my style. And I think once I got to school, especially, I was like, Oh, now I can. I don’t have to wear a denim skirt every day. I can kind of figure out what my voice is.”
So is she dating Paul Mescal or not?
The short answer is: we don’t know. The two have been friends for a while, and last summer were even spotted hanging out in Berlin with other actor friends Jeremy O’Harris and Michael Seater. Perhaps she was just acknowledging the Irish national holiday with a fellow countryman and friend?
There are also rumours they might be promoting a rom-com movie they’re both set to star in, which was first alluded to last November when Mescal told Awards Watch that he wants to set himself a challenge in the next five years “to do a rom-com with Ayo”. However the main telltale sign is that author Emily Henry, whose novel “Book Lovers” is set to be adapted into a film by the same producers behind “Aftersun”, re-shared the picture of Mescal and Edebiri to her Instagram story.
Maybe she’s as equally obsessed with the pairing as the rest of the internet, or maybe something exciting is in the pipeline... Either way, it’s good to see two proud Irish people together.
