Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrera.Photo: Jeff Vespa/Shutterstock
Melissa Barrerais thankful for her onscreen journey with the “best partner,“Paul Mescal.
Speaking with PEOPLE at the premiere of their filmCarmenon Thursday at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Los Angeles, the 32-year-old actress praised Mescal, 27, as “so supportive and comforting; you just feel safe with him.”
“It’s so easy to connect with him. And it was beautiful to get to share this with him,” she added.
Barrera also sang her recentlyOscar-nominated costar’s praises as a creative and well-rounded individual, including his turns onstage, his athleticism and more.
“He can move, and he’s strong and very graceful,” she said. “So even though he had never danced in this capacity before, he’s a natural. And he’s one of those actors that are just good at everything. Probably he could do anything.”
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Melissa Barrera.Jerod Harris/Getty
The film follows “a young and fiercely independent woman” named Carmen (Barrera) “who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother,” per anofficial synopsis.
After two of the militia members turn against each other, Carmen and one guard, military veteran Aidan (Mescal), “are forced to escape together” and flee toward Los Angeles to find Carmen’s mother’s best friend Masilda (Rossy de Palma).
In her Thursday interview with PEOPLE at the L.A. premiere, Barrera shared how Millepied, 45, and his wifeNatalie Portmantreated her like family while filming in Australia back in 2021.
Barrera also joined in on some of their other family activities while Portman, 41, who was shootingThor: Love and Thunderat the time, came to visit.
“We were hanging out on the weekends a lot,” she said. “We got on a boat one day and we spent like the entire afternoon just on the boat, chatting and eating [in Sydney].”
Carmenis now playing in select theaters.
source: people.com
