Normal People star Paul Mescal has admitted that he is finding his new-found status as a sex symbol "uncomfortable" to adjust to.

The 24-year-old was catapulted into the spotlight earlier this year following the release of the acclaimed 12-part drama centred around two Irish teenagers.

Mescal has revealed that his inbox is full of people sliding into his DMs but believes that many of them are expecting him to be like his character Connell from the show.

"To be honest, it's uncomfortable," he told the I'm Grand Mam podcast. "I'm not trying to be full of faux humility but it's a weird thing when people are very quickly attracted to a character you play.

"And I think that's the thing I'm focusing on. I'm not Connell, I'm totally different to him. I think maybe what's sexy about Connell is he's kind of classic back-footed, aloof, smart. I'm definitely not back-footed or aloof.

"It was kind of fun at the start — 'Oh, this is mad, people think that Connell's sexy' — and then a weird thing has kind of crept in where, when people DM, there's this feeling that maybe there's an anticipation that I'm him.

"This is for the record - if anybody ever dates me, I am not Connell and nor do I want to be him."

Mescal is currently living with co-star India Mullen and has not commented on speculation that they are a couple.