Following in the footsteps of Russell Crowe, it’s fellow Oscar-nominee Paul Mescal’s turn to battle in the Colosseum for Gladiator II. The Irish actor looks to prove himself as the perfect rising star to don the Ancient Rome armor, as each role he touches turns to gold – his credits including Normal People, Aftersun, and All of Us Strangers. While shooting battle scenes for the long-awaited sequel must have its own sets of challenges, Mescal gets real about the most “brutal” element of shooting Gladiator II’s Colosseum scenes, and you’d be surprised what it is.
The official trailer for Ridley Scott’s sequel already had us pumped seeing Paul Mescal doing battle against a rhinoceros. However, Entertainment Weekly has the scoop that it wasn’t exactly the 3D printed radio-controlled animal that made this action sequence challenging for the Emmy nominee. It was actually Mescal having to battle against Mother Nature, who made the sandy floor very hot for him. Said the actor,
We shot that for about two or three days, but the heat was just…. My Irish blood does not function with Ridley's shooting schedule, which is like sun up to sun down, hottest parts of the day. It was brutal, the fight. I grew up playing sports, so I would consider myself pretty robust and happy to throw myself around, but it was just the [arena] itself became like a radiator. I was borderline throwing up, irritable, just hardcore. Between takes I was firing ice straight down my back.
I can’t imagine having to shoot arena scenes in the scorching hot sun being any fun. Especially if the floor feels like fire. At the same time, Paul Mescal’s character, Lucius, is supposed to be bringing his hardworking A-game against Pedro Pascal’s Marcus in revenge for invading his home. As training is already intense enough for the son of Maximus, the actor portraying him having to perform those sequences in the blazing sun added a layer of physical and mental work that makes him worthy of a gladiator.
Paul Mescal absolutely put in the grunt work to play Lucius Verus. Getting ripped into shape for Gladiator II had his co-star Joseph Quinn saying he wouldn’t stand a chance against Mescal at the gym with his full commitment to looking the part. The Lost Daughter actor wasn’t hiding those muscles in training videos that reveal him lifting weights so flawlessly.
Mescal expressed how important it was to look like a Roman warrior you wouldn’t dare want to go up against, but also vital to avoid the training pitfall of “looking more like an underwear model.” I would say the award-winning actor for sure has the physicality of a mountain of a man ready for war compared to posing for Ancient Rome’s GQ edition.
Considering Paul Mescal’s filmography consists of smaller-scale productions, it’s safe to say Gladiator II will be the talented actor’s biggest film to date that could make him more famous (to his chagrin). Getting the chance to continue the legacy that Ridley Scott started back in 2000 presents obstacles of their own. Fortunately, the 28-year-old actor got “totally right” advice from his director saying “Your nerves are no fucking good to me,” which made the Gladiator II actor feel better knowing he’s right about that.
Even despite being “incapacitated by nerves” working with a big-name actor like Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal had to train himself to snap out of it knowing it was his job to get the show on the road. With the BAFTA nominee taking on new lessons in an upcoming big-budget movie, I’m confident he’ll take what he learned for many future film roles as his career continues to skyrocket.
It definitely didn't make matters easy for Paul Mescal going up against Pedro Pascal, a rhinoceros, and the burning hot weather in Gladiator II. But like his character, Lucius, who needed to overcome intense challenges to honor his father’s legacy, Mescal pushed himself to do the same thing to help Ridley Scott film his epic follow-up film. Get ready to watch the Ireland native battle it out in the Colosseum with the 2024 movie release in theaters on November 22.
