There are just a few days until the long-awaited sequel to Gladiator finally see the light in Spanish theaters. With expectations as high as Máximo Decimus Meridio’s desire for glory, Ridley Scott In this second installment, it promises the same formula that managed to elevate the first to the Olympus of contemporary cinema classics. Its main cast attests to this. Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal y Connie Nielsen exceptionally sponsor Paul Mescalan unknown of blockbusters who has already succeeded, however, in independent projects of the stature of After sun y Normal People.
The 28-year-old Irish actor already has an Oscar nomination for his performance in After sun, a Laurence Olivier Award for his role as Stanley Kowalski in the stage version of A streetcar named desire y now faces the Roman arena with the same force as Russell Crowe when he starred Gladiator in the year 2000.
That Crowe won the Oscar for best actor at just 35 years old for his portrayal of the well-known Hispano-Roman commander seemed reason enough for him to Paul Mescal asked him for advice on how to face the epic battles in the Colosseum. However, in a recent interview with Ridley Scott granted to Extra He has admitted that, in fact, he has not contacted him since he was offered the role.
“Did you know? I hadn’t thought about that until now,” he says. «When I read the script, I thought: ‘Oh, Lucio is a different entity‘. “I think what I would love to discuss with Russell are war stories after we’ve been through the same thing… We’ve been through similar experiences.”
However, the fact that he was not under Crowe’s direction on filming does not mean that Mescal blindly faced his character. “I felt confident having Ridley in charge,” he continues. «For him and for my own work as an actor. Because ultimately I have to fully endorse and defend this myself. There are no excuses,” he explains, before acknowledging that, once production begins, an actor can only trust the script, the director and himself. “You have to become a lonely island», he concluded.
Lucio before the armor and sword of his father, Máximo
Ridley Scott agrees with him in this individual work of confronting the character with his own intuition and adds: «Why Roger Moore I would call Sean Connery and I would say, ‘I’m about to do…’? Why would you do that? “It’s a stupid question,” he says in reference to the two actors who gave life to James Bond in different films of the saga.
Mescal himself recognizes that Lucio Vero is a completely different character from Crowe. With a disparate personality and vital journeys, there are many, however, who find certain similarities between the two. Furthermore, the fact that he is his son has further cemented the film as a justified sequel to the first.
What was never kept in mind is that Russell Crowe was involved in the story after its tragic end. He didn’t even consider it himself. “Since I have died, I have nothing to say about it, but I’m a little uncomfortable with the idea of making another movie. “I remember how old I was when I made that film, the opportunities that came after and the doors it opened for me… There is definitely a nuance of melancholy, nostalgia and jealousy because it reminds me of when I had tendons,” Crowe comments with humor, alluding to to his physical state at that time. The role was decisive for his later success and only time will tell if the charisma and good work of Paul Mescal They make him a worthy successor to Máximo.
