Fans Are Emailing Connell From 'Normal People' & Actually Getting Responses
The internet officially has a new boyfriend, and it turns out, even off-screen he's straight out of a young-adult novel — literally. When Sally Rooney's Normal People came out in 2018, fans were instantly head-over-heels in love with the romance novel. When the screen adaptation of the book was released on Hulu in April, viewers were similarly enthralled with its cinematic beauty, the realness of the storyline, and, of course, leading man Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal). While there's a lot to unpack about the chain-clad character onscreen, one of the most exciting developments is taking place post-production. It turns out, Connell's email address from Normal People is responding to fans, and there are receipts to prove it.
This exciting discovery seems to have been figured out by Twitter user @travis_oliver (Travis Smith). After seeing Connell's email address in Episode 6, the Normal People fan decided to send a note to the fictional character, expecting the message to bounce back as undeliverable. Instead of getting an error message or radio silence, however, Smith got a response that was written in a very Connell-like way.
The character is known for being sweet and sexy yet emotionally distant, all elements that were portrayed in the email sent in response:
After the exchange was posted to Twitter, another fan, Twitter user @michaeladwy decided to test the email address as well. Instead of discussing the character's communication style, however, he asked about the iconic chain Connell wears 24/7.
A source from Hulu told Elite Daily neither Hulu nor BBC have anything to do with the email account, which means the email stunt is probably not just another brilliant marketing ploy. Instead, it could just be a Normal People fan who saw an opportunity why Connell's email was shown on the series, and took that opportunity to have some good, wholesome fun. Whoever it is, Smith theorizes the account is run by someone in the U.K. or Ireland due to the response times of both emails.
"Either there's some poor fellow whose name really is Connell Waldron that [the email address] belongs to, or someone related to the show had made the account. To be honest, I still don't know who's behind it," Smith told The Hollywood Reporter.
Whether a writer, a PR manager, or Paul Mescal himself (*crosses fingers*) is answering the emails, it looks like the lines of fiction and reality are actually starting the blur.
Normal People is on Hulu now.
