Paul Mescal's sister Nell, 19, is revealed as a rising music star trends now

While her brother was rapidly ascending to Hollywood stardom, Nell Mescal was having such a tough time at school she would sit in the toilets on her own at lunchtime. 

But now the younger sister of the Normal People star and Oscar nominee is having her own shot at the big time as her music career takes off - having dropped out of school in Kildare in October 2021. 

Now Nell, 19, is living in Haringey, North London, has released three singles and has a management deal with American firm Q Prime, which looks after Metallica, Muse and Foals, as well as being signed with Manchester indie label LAB Records.

And after her brother was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in Aftersun this week, she found herself further thrust into the spotlight as fans on Twitter suddenly discovered her music, and comments quickly flooded in along the lines of 'realising Paul Mescal might not be the most talented member of his family'. 

Nell, who has just released her second single Homesick, has only been living in London for 15 months after dropping out of school in October 2021. 

At the age of 17 Nell left Ireland and lived alone for three months in Brighton, where she started her musical career. 

However, on returning home she found herself alienated from her former friends and decided to leave school permanently and move to London. 

Speaking to The Times, she said that she was picked on at primary school, and difficult relationships continued as she got older and schoolmates teased her about her body. 

She said: 'I would have moments when I would walk past people I thought were my best friends and no one would look at me, so I sat in the toilet for lunch. 

'It got worse after I came back from those three months in Brighton because the attitude was: "You’re going to leave anyway so we don’t need to invest our friendship in you".' 

This all coincided with Paul's breakout role in Normal People, and a therapist suggested to Nell that people were jealous of her because of her brother.  

However, her decision to move away has encouraged her to pursue her own path and Nell made her musical debut in 2021 opening for Phoebe Bridgers, who was romantically linked to Paul at that time. 

Since then 19-year-old Nell has released three songs, Missing You, Graduation and Homesick.

She continues to grow her music repertoire and has signed a management deal with the American firm Q Prime, which looks after Metallica, Muse and Foals, and she has signed with Manchester indie label LAB Records. 

The 19-year-old singer-songwriter told London's Evening Standard that she has been writing and playing piano since was 12 or 13.