Credit: Bafta TV Awards. Paul Mescal has hailed the “life-changing” impact Normal People has had on him after he was named the winner of the Bafta leading actor award. The actor, who played Connell Waldron in the hit series, was given the prize in Sunday’s Bafta television awards. After the ceremony, Mescal said the programme “totally changed my life and has given me an opportunity to continue doing the job that I love”. The programme, adapted from the Sally Rooney novel of the same name, focuses on the on-off relationship between Irish teenagers Marianne and Connell, beginning in their school days through to their time at university.