Gladiator IIstar Paul Mescal breaks down his training routine in preparation for the role of Lucius Verus. The younger version of the character was played by Spencer Treat Clark in the originalGladiator, with Mescal being recast as an older Lucius forGladiator II’s story. With the help of the cunning power broker and former slave, Macrinus (Denzel Washington), Lucius will use the gladiator arena to seek revenge against General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).
While speaking withEmpiremagazine,Mescal explained his routine, which included training six days a week in 45-minute bursts, overseen by “the best trainer, who knows I don’t have a huge amount of patience, and he could see it in my eyes that after a certain point I was like, ‘Get me out of here!'“Mescal also clarified that he wanted there to be a limit and did not want to"go down the whole 300 avenue,“referring to the Spartan warriors in the Zack Snyder film. Check out the rest of Mescal’s explanation below:
I had always had a kind of latent ambition to do something that was more muscular and physical. From a selfish side of things, I wanted to surprise an audience, because I knew that I have this kind of role within me. When this came up, I was like, “This is something that I don’t think anybody who’s seen the work that I’ve done previously will be expecting,” and it’s Ridley Scott.
When I was first cast I had this idea of like, “You know what? I’m just gonna make gladiators look normal.” But the closer I got [to filming] I thought that would be me getting in the way of the story.
How do they survive this level of violence that we have no real comprehension of today in a sporting context? The only way you can do that is if you’re robust and able to take the impact of near-death experiences on a day-to-day basis. So then it just meant lifting heavy things for a long time and eating lots of chicken.
This ideal image that has been informed by superhero films - that was something I was keen to avoid. Because superheroes don’t exist, but gladiators did. We don’t really know what they looked like, but they were prime athletes raised in stables, and they trained every day. So I was like, “Let’s just go back to what I’m used to - which is Gaelic football training.”
Paul Mescal Can Help Gladiator II Live Up To The Hype
He Is Already An Academy Award And Emmy Award-Nominated Actor
24 years after the first film,Ridley Scott raised the already high expectations for the sequel by calling it one of the best films made in his career. Whether the film can live up to or surpass the heights of its predecessor will largely depend on Mescal, who has already made Lucius distinct via his physique. As impressive as Mescal looks, along with the rest ofGladiator II’s cast, costumes, and cinematography, the question now is whether Mescal can deliver a performance as compelling as Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Maximus Decimus Meridius.
Through his performance, Mescal has the potential to makeGladiator IIjust as entertaining as the originalGladiator.
Mescal has demonstrated his acting prowess before, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the 2022 filmAftersunand an Emmy Award nomination for his role in the 2020 miniseriesNormal People. Much ofGladiator II’s appeal revolves around the action and the increased sense of spectacle. Nevertheless,the sequel also needs to be grounded by the humanity Mescal brings to Lucius, just as Crowe groundedGladiatorwith Maximus’ humanity.
In a cast that includes theAcademy Award-winning Washingtonand the Emmy Award-nominated Pascal,Mescal will need to make sure his own performance stands out as the story’s protagonist. This will make it easier to be invested in the high-stakes action scenes, including when Lucius fights General Acacius in the Colosseum. Through his performance, Mescal has the potential to makeGladiator IIjust as entertaining as its beloved predecessor.
Gladiator II
Cast
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
