Pedro Pascal has said he would “rather be thrown from a building” than fight Paul Mescal again after shooting their scenes together in Gladiator II.
The first look images of Mescal in Gladiator II were shared yesterday, giving fans a glimpse into Ridley’s Scott’s sequel to the Russell Crowe-starring, Oscar winning original.
In the images, obtained by Vanity Fair, Mescal looks to be channelling Crowe’s Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius from the 2000 film. Maximus was betrayed and enslaved as a gladiator, later fighting his way up the ranks to avenge the murders of his family and the emperor.
In the new film, Mescal will lead a new story that focuses on Lucius, the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla from the first film. Nielsen will be reprising her role, and the cast will also be joined by Pascal, Denzel Washington and Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn.
Now, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Pascal has opened up about what it was like for his character to fight Mescal, joking that he would rather be “thrown from a building” than do a fight scene with him again.
“He got so strong. I would rather be thrown from a building than have to fight him again,” Pascal said. “To go up against somebody that fit and that talented and that much younger….It’s brutal, man. I call him Brick Wall Paul.”
He also went to credit Mescal with helping him to get through the film’s brutal fight scenes.
“Outside of Ridley being a total genius, Paul is a big reason as to why I would put my poor body through that experience,” he explained.
First Look: Paul Mescal is Lucius in ‘Gladiator II.’
See more images from Ridley Scott’s upcoming film: https://t.co/WWYVKnybYX pic.twitter.com/Y1WFNN0rWJ
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 1, 2024
Mescal also opened up to the publication about his transformation for the role.
“I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage when shit hits the fan,” Mescal said. “I think also, sometimes, one could, in striving for that perfect look, end up looking more like an underwear model than a warrior.”
He continued: “Muscles start to grow, and that can be deemed aesthetic in certain capacities, but there is something about feeling strong in your body that elicits just a different feeling. You carry yourself differently. It has an impact on you psychologically in a way that is useful for the film.”
Recently, Russell Crowe opened up about Gladiator II, saying that he was “slightly uncomfortable” that a sequel was being made.
Speaking to Kyle Meredith, Crowe said: “I’m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they’re making another one — because, of course, I’m dead and I have no say in what gets done. But a couple of the things I’ve heard I’m like ‘No, no, no, that’s not in the moral journey of that particular character’. But I can’t say anything, it’s not my place, I’m six foot under. So we’ll see what that is like.”
Crowe continued: “I reflect back: the age I was when I made that film and all the things that came after it, the doors that particular movie opened for me. This is just me being purely honest: there’s definitely a tinge of melancholy, a tinge of jealousy. I remember when I had tendons.”
In January, Mescal also shared his concern about the fame which may come with the epic sequel. Speaking to The Sunday Times, the Irish actor said about the film’s upcoming release: “I don’t know what the difference will be. Maybe that’s naive? Is it just that more people will stop you in the street?”
He continued: “I’d get profoundly depressed if that’s so and hope it isn’t true. I’ll have an answer next year, but if [the film] impacts my life in that way, I’ll be in a bad spot. I’d have to move on and do an obtuse play nobody wants to see.”
Gladiator 2 is due to release on November 22 globally.
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