Red hot writer-turned-actress/comedian Ayo Edebiri seems to enjoy misleading the public online, especially where her “Irish” roots are concerned, so take this with a grain of salt — but a series of cute pics she posted to Instagram with the Irish actor Paul Mescal have sparked dating rumors for the talented 20-somethings.

Mescal is best known for his role in the steamy Hulu romance Normal People, and Edebiri is having a breakout moment after winning an Emmy for her beloved role as Sydney Adamu on The Bear. Both actors, each 28, are also known to be friends, so this could have been all in good fun for St. Patrick's Day — but a series of pics that Edebiri and Mescal posted to social media have dating rumors swirling.

The pics in question show Edebiri and Mescal sitting together on a staircase, and sharing a laugh and smile, as Edebiri holds Mescal's shoulder and Mescal appears to be resting his arm on Edebiri's lap. The caption “Happy St Paddy's Day” along with a shamrock makes clear the post is in honor of the holiday.

A few additional pics shared to Mescal's Instagram shed a bit more light on the proceedings. On the same stairwell, another pic features Edebiri and Mescal now also sitting with the director Oliver Hermanus, and playwright Jeremy O. Harris (who wrote Slave Play). Hermanus is known to be directing Mescal in the upcoming film The History of Sound, which is currently in production.

A caption on top of the pic in Mescal's Instagram further elaborates, “Tried to celebrate ST PATRICKS DAY w @ayoedebiri, @bigbreadpedlar & @oliver_hermanus” while another caption at the bottom of the pic reads “In honor of my shared heritage ‘O'Harris'.”

 

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The whole scene is most likely an extension of Edebiri's performance art bit, let's call it, that she's been carrying out for a number of months now. What started as a joke at the red carpet premiere of her raunchy 2023 comedy Bottoms has evolved into an international viral meme where Edebiri keeps insisting she's from Ireland and was in the Academy Award-winning 2022 film The Banshees of Inisherin — neither of which is true.

There doesn't seem to be a grand scheme behind the running gag other than the fact that Edebiri's fans, and the nation of Ireland for that matter, seem to find it funny and support the continual references to it. She's also a comedian who's worked on a slew of respected comedy shows before segueing to acting so far be it from us to question what's funny about the heritage fakeout.

Just know that it's now reached a new level of crescendo if Irish actor Paul Mescal is involved, complete with dating rumors to boot. It seems Ayo Edebiri can do no wrong at the moment and is making the most of her time in the spotlight.