Paul Mescal landed the part in the new Gladiator movie rather quickly. And no screen test was needed.
It didn't take much to convince 86-year-old director Ridley Scott that he was the man for the job playing Lucius. Vanity Fair interviewed the star, revealing that he essentially got the part over a quick Zoom call with Scott.
“We spoke for about 20 to 30 minutes,” Mescal said. “I wanted to get a flavor from him about what the story was going to be about, so we spent about 15 minutes talking about that, and then we spent another 10 minutes talking about the sport that I played growing up — Gaelic football. Maybe that was something that helped with it, in that I'm used to being physical in my body.”
The meeting went well, considering there was no camera test to see if he was perfect for the gig.
“My memory of it is that probably two or three weeks later, the offer came in,” Mescal added.
And so it goes. He's now a part of likely one of the year's biggest films.
As for training for the fighting scenes, Mescal said, “I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage when shit hits the fan. I think also, sometimes, one could, in striving for that perfect look, end up looking more like an underwear model than a warrior.”
What is Gladiator II about?
The new Gladiator II continues where Russell Crowe's 2000 epic movie Gladiator left off. Lucius is the son of Lucilla, actress Connie Nielsen's noblewoman role. Several decades have passed, and Lucius has grown up.
“There's a lot of Sophie's Choice going on here, where these are impossible situations that we are being forced to reckon with,” Nielsen said. “There is an authoritarian power that is parading as if it were still somehow the vestiges of a Republican government. Inside of this travesty are human beings who are caught in this gamesmanship and power. That is what I find always so interesting in Ridley's stories. He's really showing the effect of power on people and what happens in a place where power is unrestrained.”
The new movie also stars Pedro Pascal as Roman general Marcus Acacius. “This movie has an identity that is shaped by his legacy,' Pascal said of his character. “It wouldn't make sense for it not to.”
“He's a very, very good general, which can mean a very good killer,” he added later in the interview.
“The film begins with the raiding party of the Roman fleet, which comes in from the sea and decimates Numidia,” the director said. “It's pretty gnarly.”
That quick Zoom call surely paid off for Paul Mescal because it sounds like he has a hit movie on the way. Check out Gladiator II when it lands in theaters on November 22.