Nearly two and a half decades after the monumental film Gladiator hit theaters, acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott is returning the iconic Roman-era epic to the big screen with Gladiator II.
The film, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and more, is a Roman warrior story of redemption, family and nation, told on a scale big enough to match its preceding legacy.
In an interview with Good Morning America, the cast opened up about making the second installment of a classic, carrying on the Gladiator legacy and how Scott “built” Rome for the new film.
“We thought about it for 24 years — not every day, it was always there in the back of my mind,” Scott said of making the sequel. “But in that time, I did 17 other movies. Big ones. So, it really wasn’t an incredible challenge other than saying ‘It would be nice to get to it,’ And we finally got to it by sitting down at a table and saying, ‘Whatever happened to Lucius?'”
Enter: Mescal as Lucius, the son of Maximus — the main character from Gladiator, played by Russell Crowe.
Mescal undoubtedly had big boots to fill, succeeding Crowe as the leading man in the sequel. According to two-time Oscar winner Washington, who plays Macrinus in the new film, Mescal was more than able to carry the staggering legacy of Crowe’s character.
“First of all, he pulls it off,” said Washington. “I can only imagine the pressure he must have felt coming behind Russell 25 years later.”
Despite that pressure, Mescal made clear his dominant feeling was one of excitement. “Obviously there was a nervousness attached to it and concern because you care about the work that you do,” he said. “But the predominant thing was one of getting ready to go — and excited about it, to be honest.”
Scott’s Rome, which he built with production designer Arthur Max, featured more than 500 extras filling rows in a replica Colosseum that reached a third of the original structure’s actual size.
“I’d never been on sets like that,” said Washington, explaining the scope of the production. “They built Rome, basically.”
Mescal said actors on Scott’s set are immersed in the world of Gladiator — barring the cameras of course, though he was sure to note that Scott even dresses up the camera operators in costume.
“It is a total, total gift,” said Mescal of the elaborate set design. “You walk onto set, and if you can’t act in that environment, I don’t think this job is for you.”
Gladiator II premieres in the U.S. on Nov. 22.
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