News

Gracie Abrams says relationship with Paul Mescal has been ‘the greatest gift, period’

Aug 4, 2026

Paul Mescal and Gracie Abrams attend the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards, Feb. 22, 2026 in London, England. (Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Gracie Abrams used to worry that being happy would make it hard for her to write songs. Turns out the opposite was true, as she tells Rolling Stone for her new cover story.

Gracie is currently dating Irish actor Paul Mescal. She says before they got together, she had “far less experience sitting down to write when I was filled with security and joy and love and safety.”

“And I was like, ‘Oh, s***, how am I going to approach this?’ Or, you know, ‘How’s it going to impact the quantity of songs I write?’” she continues. “And it’s had the most amazing effect on my writing. It has given me the most amount of space to reflect on everything in my life.”

She continues, “It has held a mirror to me in ways that I didn’t know a relationship with another person of any kind could. It has given me all the perspective that I could have ever hoped for, on previous relationships, on my relationship with my family, on my friendships. It is the greatest gift, period.”

The couple’s relationship has put them under public scrutiny, even more than they were before. And while you’d think Gracie would be used to that, as the daughter of famed director JJ Abrams, that’s not the case. She tells Rolling Stone that any time she spent in the public eye as a child was “very contained.” She adds that she didn’t even know what her father did for a living until her elementary school classmates asked her for insights on Lost, one of his shows.

“Like, it was fun the handful of times that we visited my dad on set,” she notes. “But regardless of what your parents do, growing up, nothing is less cool than your parents.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Related News

U2 to headline NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve gameday

U2 to headline NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve gameday

U2 performs at Suncorp Stadium on November 12, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images) Who said the Irish don’t celebrate Thanksgiving? Netflix announced that U2 is headlining the NFL’s first Thanksgiving Eve game live from SoFi Stadium in...

read more...
Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with MS

Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with MS

Christina Applegate attends the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on January 15, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Actress Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a neurological and...

read more...
‘Office Space’ star Richard Riehle dies at 78

‘Office Space’ star Richard Riehle dies at 78

Actor Richard Riehle arrives at the premiere of New Line Cinema’s ‘A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas’ at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on November 2, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Richard Riehle, known for his...

read more...