Though Gladiator II finds star Paul Mescal courageously fighting rhinos in the Colosseum, he had to work to summon up that fearlessness to meet Denzel Washington, his Academy Award-winning co-star in the Ridley Scott follow-up.
During a Friday appearance on The Graham Norton Show, alongside Saoirse Ronan and Eddie Redmayne, the Normal People star discussed the making of the massive sequel to the original 2000 epic, during which he shared a story of his nerves upon meeting Washington — something the actor had not previously revealed to his colleague.
“The first day that I was actually working with Denzel, he was up in the box, and I was rolling around fighting some monkeys or something. And at the end of the day, I was like, ‘God I must go up—” he said, turning to Washington as he added, “I haven’t told you this—and introduce myself to Denzel.’”
Mescal recalled initially chickening out of the experience, before hyping himself up the following day to meet his on-screen mentor/frenemy.
“I was stood at the bottom of the steps, and I stood there for a couple of minutes, and I said, ‘Not today,’” the Aftersun actor recalled. “So I bailed out and I ran to my dressing room and was like, ‘Tomorrow I’m going to be a brave boy.’”
But, all’s well that ends well.
“The second day, I waited at the bottom of the stairs, and I was like, ‘Just gotta stay put,’” the Oscar nominee explained. “And Denzel walks down, and it was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go.’ And he shook my hand, and I just felt extraordinary.”
Upon meeting, Washington ribbed Mescal for his physical transformation for the action film: “He looked at me for ages, and he goes, ‘Stop workin’ out, man,’” Mescal said, chuckling. (Elsewhere during the interview, Mescal spoke of the rigorous diet and exercise schedule required to portray a Roman gladiator, which entailed “lots of chicken breasts and heavy lifting of things.” Though Mescal described the process as “fun,” guest Redmayne said his experiences of bulking up for the silver screen were decidedly not fun but “horrendous.”)
For all the trepidation, Washington later showered his co-star with praise, saying of Mescal’s performance, “Let me say this: This kid delivers. I’m a pretty good actor. I’m serious, trust me. I saw it when Russell [Crowe, star of Gladiator] did it — he delivered. This kid delivered.”
Gladiator II, which comes 24 years after the original starring Crowe as a revenge-seeking general-turned-slave, will debut Nov. 22, a week ahead of Thanksgiving. The sequel to the epic historical fiction tale will follow a grown-up Lucius (originally portrayed by Spencer Treat Clark), nephew of the first film’s Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) and son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla, who is unstoppable in his rage-filled quest for the downfall of the Roman army. Washington will portray an ex-gladiator and arms dealer who is set on his own path toward dominance. Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn also star.