Paul Mescal on working with Denzel Washington in 'Gladiator II': 'He shook my hand, felt extraordinary'

Picture Courtesy/Paul Mescal`s Instagram account

Actor Paul Mescal, who is gearing up for the release of his next project, 'Gladiator II' talked about his experience of sharing screen space with Denzel Washington, reported Deadline. For him it was challenging however, he was fighting with the rhinoceros in the Colosseum, and he had to work hard to match up with the Academy Award-winning star.

'Gladiator II' is an upcoming epic historical action film directed and co-produced by Ridley Scott. It is a sequel to Gladiator (2000), the film was written by David Scarpa. It stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. Nielsen and Derek Jacobi reprise their roles from the first film.

While appearing on 'The Graham Norton Show', alongside Saoirse Ronan and Eddie Redmayne, Paul opened up on the making of the sequel and meeting Denzel on the sets.

"The first day that I was working with Denzel, he was up in the box, and I was rolling around fighting some monkeys or something. And at the end of the day, I was like, 'God I must go up--" he said, turning to Washington as he added, "I haven't told you this--and introduce myself to Denzel.'"

Mescal admitted to being nervous about the encounter at first but then pumped himself up the next day to meet his on-screen mentor.

"I was stood at the bottom of the steps, and I stood there for a couple of minutes, and I said, 'Not today,'" the actor recalled. "So I bailed out and I ran to my dressing room and was like, 'Tomorrow I'm going to be a brave boy.'"

"The second day, I waited at the bottom of the stairs, and I was like, 'Just gotta stay put,'" he shared, adding, "And Denzel walks down, and it was like, 'Oh, God, here we go.' And he shook my hand, and I just felt extraordinary."

Washington criticised Mescal's physical makeover for the action flick during their meeting, "He looked at me for ages, and he goes, 'Stop workin' out, man,'" Mescal said, chuckling. (Elsewhere during the interview, Mescal spoke of the rigorous diet and exercise schedule required to portray a Roman gladiator, which entailed "lots of chicken breasts and heavy lifting of things." Though Mescal described the process as "fun," guest Redmayne said his experiences of bulking up for the silver screen were decidedly not fun but "horrendous.")

Washington later praised his co-star, saying of Mescal's performance, "Let me say this: This kid delivers. I'm a pretty good actor. I'm serious, trust me. I saw it when Russell [Crowe, star of Gladiator] did it -- he delivered. This kid delivered," reported Deadline.

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