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In Gladiator II, Paul Mescal gets to prove himself as a leading man. To be fair, he already has established himself. He received a Best Actor Oscar nomination in 2023 for his performance in Aftersun. But Gladiator II is his first franchise movie.
In Gladiator II, Mescal plays Lucius, a man forced into slavery. Like his father, Maximus (Russell Crowe), Lucius has to fight his way through the arena to regain his freedom.
Somehow, he did not need music to pump himself up before filming them. Mescal spoke to ClutchPoints at the Gladiator II junket about his experience filming it. And, no, he did not listen to any Beatles on set despite being rumored to play Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes' upcoming Fab Four biopics.
“I weirdly found myself going pretty quiet before we would get into these [fight sequences],” he revealed. “I think there's two kinds of stereotypes — there [are] people who get themselves adrenalized, and then there [are] people who go pretty still before a fight; I think I was in the latter category.”
Throughout Gladiator II, Mescal takes on a variety of opponents. Some of his dance partners include Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, but it was neither of them that really stood out to him as he praised the sequel for having a “distinct quality” in each fight sequence.
“So, if I'm being honest, it's probably the fight with the baboons or the opening sequence. I just loved those battles in terms of how unique they feel, you know?”
Paul Mescal's physical transformation for Gladiator II
Playing Lucius in Gladiator II meant Mescal had to undergo a physical transformation. He has never been more buff, but he takes the old-school approach and is willing to do whatever it takes for the job.
His next role, The History of Sound, required him to lose weight just seven weeks after wrapping Gladiator II. Mescal said that he will do “whatever is required for the role.” He added, “I think it's your job as an actor to try and do.”
As for working with Ridley Scott, working with the Alien director has an impact beyond the film set. He thinks Scott makes it easy for actors to work. But if you can't keep up, “you should look at yourself in the mirror and figure out whether you're in the right game or not.”
“The gift that he gives actors beyond his kind of innate intuition with character is the world that he builds around you,” he explained. “Wherever your eye really looks, unless you're looking down the lens of the camera, is probably period appropriate.”
Will he be in the Beatles biopics?
For months, Mescal has been rumored to play Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes' Beatles biopics.
While he kept his involvement in the projects close to the vest, making it clear he would “love to” be involved in them “wholeheartedly,” he seemingly almost slipped up, saying, “I'm so curious to see who's going to be involved and what those scripts are going to look like,” before slipping in, “fundamentally.”
Still, the Aftersun star is looking forward to seeing how they come together, no pun intended. Mescal is anticipating seeing who is involved.
“You could pick any moment from any of those characters' lives, and you would have a very, very interesting film,” he said. “I'm so curious to see who's going to be involved.”
Even if nothing is confirmed (or announced), I had to ask what Mescal would ask McCartney if he got to meet him. His one question would be: “How long is a piece of string?”
He then added with a smile, “I don't know specifically off the top of my head what I'd ask him — [it] depends on how much time you'd have.”
As a Beatles fan, all I can ask is that Mescal “Don't Let Me Down.”
Gladiator II will be released on November 22.
