When Gladiator premiered, in 2000, Paul Mescal was just 4 years old. “My parents were responsible and didn’t allow me to watch it until I was 13,” he recalls. “I watched it with my dad on TV and absolutely fell in love with it. It became one of my favorite films.” Fast-forward to today, and Mescal is living a dream come true as the star of Gladiator II, Ridley Scott’s sequel to the Oscar-winning epic. “I’m comfortable making the admission here that I played with fake swords until I was around 15,” Mescal says, laughing. “Most children stop when they are 10. So, to be given an opportunity to do it in a way that is the least embarrassing way possible, I was super excited to do that.”
As Lucius, the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus from the original film, Mescal takes on a physically demanding role alongside Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Joseph Quinn. It’s a stark contrast to his breakout portrayal of the quiet, introspective Connell in Normal People, which catapulted the now 28-year-old Irish actor to fame. Up next, Mescal will reprise his role as Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire, bringing his performance to the Brooklyn Academy of Music after a successful West End run. “There’s more similarities between Stanley and Lucius than between Connell and Lucius,” he says with a laugh…