Navigating the delicate line between profound artistic vulnerability and the harsh glare of modern celebrity requires a rare kind of grace—and Gracie Abrams is mastering it in real time. Following the acclaim of her sophomore studio album, Daughter From Hell, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter sat down for an extraordinarily candid conversation with Rolling Stone, pulling back the curtain on her relationship with Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal, her mental health, and the quiet wisdom she’s discovering in this chapter of her youth.
Addressing the flurry of tabloid chatter that often attempts to reduce her artistic narrative to her high-profile romance, Abrams met the noise with a dose of sharp humor. “I’m like, ‘Are we on crack? Like, what the f–k?’ That was my cue to be like, ‘Oh, remember why you don’t look [at social media]?’… Run with it, circus.”
In truth, her relationship with Mescal has yielded a deeply grounding influence on her creative process rather than a distraction. “It’s had the most amazing effect on my writing,” Abrams shared. “It has given me the most amount of space to reflect on everything in my life. It has held a mirror to me in ways that I didn’t know a relationship with another person of any kind could. It has given me all the perspective that I could have ever hoped for, on previous relationships, on my relationship with my family, on my friendships. It is the greatest gift, period.”
That artistic connection extends directly to their living room. The pair co-wrote the track “Imaginary Friend,” a collaboration that unfolded organically within their shared space. “It wasn’t some extraordinary event,” Abrams explained. “We’re a very musical household, and so there’s always something brewing. I started playing this guitar part — but we do that all the time. I feel lucky to be generally inspired by him as a person and by his brain. It’s the easiest thing to make stuff together.”
Witnessing Mescal’s dedication to his own craft—specifically as he prepares to portray Sir Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles biopics—has been equally inspiring. To master the role, Mescal has been teaching himself to play the bass left-handed. “So amazing to witness,” Abrams marveled. “He’s like an alien. I mean, he’s better at guitar backwards than I have been at guitar my whole life.”
Despite growing up as the daughter of celebrated filmmaker J.J. Abrams and producer Katie McGrath, the artist notes that her upbringing was intentionally kept far away from the Hollywood machine. “If you’re asking about the public-eye piece, it was very contained,” she reflected. “Like, it was fun the handful of times that we visited my dad on set. But regardless of what your parents do, growing up, nothing is less cool than your parents — so it’s pure rejection of the thing… I [grew] up with families whose parents also worked in the entertainment business, who were heat-seeking missiles with their children in a way that could not have been further from the truth for us.”
Yet, stepping into her own spotlight hasn’t come without emotional hurdles. Abrams spoke candidly about suffering a severe panic attack in a New York hotel room right before her album promo rollout commenced. “I was just not taking it one day at a time, and just overwhelmed looking at scheduling stuff… you know how excitement and anxiety live in the same part of your brain? I think the anticipatory excitement and anxiety can sometimes get confused for me. That’s always been true for me across the board.”
The psychological demands of rapid stardom remain a continuous learning curve for her nervous system. “I’m comfortable with the reality that people will interpret my music from their own personal point of view, and I understand the position from which I’m writing,” Abrams said thoughtfully. “Sometimes the way that things present are not how they feel inside. In some core ways, there are aspects to this whole thing that feel at odds with my nervous system, personally — and there’s total confusion and guilt and shame associated with that feeling, for sure. You can become untethered from yourself quite quickly if you’re not careful.”
That raw emotional weight frequently translates to intense moments in the recording booth. Speaking on the creation of her tracks “Hit the Wall” and the album’s title track, Abrams confessed, “Actually, I cried that day in the studio, writing it. And I sobbed writing ‘Daughter From Hell.’ Like, ‘How am I going to cut this f–king vocal?’”
Beyond music, Abrams is expanding her creative horizons into cinema, having recently wrapped filming on her acting debut in Halina Reijn’s upcoming feature Please. “It’s such a humbling experience, and it scares the f–k out of me, which is how I know I’m in the right place, I think.”
As she looks ahead, Abrams is content embracing the beauty of life’s unwritten middle chapters. “Honestly, the truth for me right now is that what I’m appreciating the most about this time in my life is that in-between quality,” she reflected warmly. “I don’t think any of us have any real idea at this point how it’s all going to pan out, but I feel grateful for what this decade thus far has allowed me to reflect on with more softness and grace.”
