Paul Mescal is receiving widespread acclaim for his performance in Gladiator II, but the question of whether he was the right person to anchor a long-awaited sequel was apparently not on director Ridley Scottās mind. During a recent interview onĀ The Graham Norton Show, Mescal revealed that he was cast in the blockbuster following a single Zoom call.
Ā āRidley does not waste time,ā Mescal explained per Deadline. āI thought there would be camera tests and auditions, but we Zoomed for half an hour, spoke for 10 [minutes] about the part and then 20 minutes about Gaelic football, his dog and his wife.ā
āI thought there would be more, but he called a few weeks later to offer me the part,ā theĀ Normal PeopleĀ actor continued.Ā āI think he just goes by instinct, on set and off, and Iām very glad thatās the way it went.ā
Following his role as one of the leads ofĀ Normal People, Mescal has experienced a rapid ascent to the height of movie stardom. He received an Oscar nomination for his performance in the widely acclaimed AftersunĀ and has also starred in several other acclaimed independent features.
Mescal co-stars in theĀ GladiatorĀ sequel with Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Connie Nielsen. He plays Lucius, the son of Russell Croweās character from the original film. The first wave of reactions to Gladiator IIĀ were overwhelmingly positive. With a little less than a month to go until the filmās release, the only question left is whether the movie will live up to the high standard set by its predecessor.
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