Why we are all convinced Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal are a couple.

In rather unlikely news, the internet has become obsessed with a potential new couple in Hollywood: actors Natalie Portman and Paul Mescal. 

Yes, we're just as surprised as you are but following the emergence of paparazzi pictures of the pair together during a public outing in London this month, this could actually a real thing.

Watch Paul Mescal and Natalie Portman chatting for Variety's famed Actors on Actors interview. Post continues after video. 

In the pics, the pair can be seen chatting, wearing matching plain white T-shirts, smoking cigarettes, laughing and looking very comfortable in each other's presence while hanging outside London bar 69 Colebrooke Row.

Romantic, right? (I mean, apart from the cigarette smoke.)

And while it feels a little bit random to see these particular actors out grabbing a drink together, they've actually known each other for quite some time now.

Mescal and Portman met in 2023 while filming for the famed Variety series Actors on Actors. During their chat, in which they discussed their craft and work, the Normal People actor confessed he thought Portman was "brilliant".

"If my drama-school self knew that I would be talking to you, I would pinch myself many, many times!" he told her.

Portman had some kind words for Mescal, too, telling him, "I remember seeing you in Normal People and just being like, 'Oh my gosh, who is this talent?'"

While the dating rumours are yet to be confirmed, Portman is single following her recent divorce from Benjamin Millepied after 11 years of marriage. They legally split in 2023, a rep told PEOPLE at the time, with the divorce finalised in March this year.

The divorce was filed in France, where they lived with their two children, 12-year-old son Aleph and seven-year-old daughter Amalia.

Prior to their divorce, there were rumours that Millepied had had an affair and PEOPLE reported that Portman needed her friends to rally "around her" and "get through the worst of it".

Benjamin Millepied and Natalie Portman at the Academy Awards in February 2020. Image: Getty.

"Natalie is coming out of a really tough and painful year but she's come out the other side of it stronger and is finding joy in her family, friends, and work," a source told the outlet.

"Her biggest priority has been ensuring a smooth transition for her children," they said. "She and Ben really love their kids and are equally focused on being the best co-parents they can be. Nothing is more important."

Mescal previously dated singer Phoebe Bridgers for two years, before the pair split in late 2022.

Phoebe Bridgers and Paul Mescal in 2021. Image: Instagram @phoebebridgers.

The Normal People actor told Vanity Fair in February 2023 that he feels pressure to be open with the public about who he was dating.

"The temptation still exists to be like, 'Shut the f**k up. This is my life. This is what's going on,'" he said. "Or, 'This is what's not going on.'"

But despite the occasional desire to set the record straight about his love life, Mescal added that he plans on keeping any relationship status private. "Moving forward as much as I can, that's going to be my life that is private," he said. "That's a difficult thing to achieve. But giving strangers an answer about my life doesn't actually help me.

"It's like a quick boost of serotonin, being like, 'I've said what I need to say.' And then it's just Twitter fodder."

Feature Image: Variety.