Gladiator 2 Star Will Be “Profoundly Depressed” if the Sequel Makes Him Famous

This fall will bring about the release of Gladiator 2, the long-awaited follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic. At the center of the live-action war film is Normal People and Aftersun star Paul Mescal, who has been cast in the pivotal role of Lucius. In a recent interview with The Times UK, Mescal reflected on the potential impact that Gladiator 2 might have on his career, and recognized that he might “get profoundly depressed” if the movie makes him too famous.

“I don’t know what the difference will be,” Mescal revealed. “Maybe that’s naive? Is it just that more people will stop you in the street? 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.”

What Is Gladiator 2 About?

The Gladiator sequel will star Mescal as Lucius, the son of Lucilla, The youth was the nephew of Commodus, the weaselly son of Roman leader Marcus Aurelius who murdered his father seized the throne and wound up in the gladiator ring with Maximus, who though mortally wounded, skewered the emperor before fading into the great beyond to reunite with his slain wife and son. Maximus saved the boy and his mother while avenging his own family, and left a strong impression on the young Lucius. Gladiator 2 will also star Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, May Calamawy, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, and Matt Lucas. The film is directed by Ridley Scott, off of a script from David Scarpa.

“First of all, I love doing period films. I love the research. I love to create sort of smells of the period,” Scott told the press in 2021. “I think what we did with the first Gladiator…I don’t like being critical of other things that have happened before, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Hollywood Roman epics, honestly. They felt artificial and so, when I was asked to consider a script, the script was not very good. But the person who gave it to me said, I want to show you one thing, and he picked up an illustration, this is true, it’s called For Those About to Die by Gérôme. He holds it up. It’s a picture of this big painting of the Coliseum, and in the corner there is this guy, about to tuna fork this poor bastard,” Scott added. “He’s got this thing in his neck, and he’s looking up for permission to kill. I went, bloody hell, that’s never been done properly before. Never. I said, I’ll do it. He said you will? I said yes. Did you want to read the script? I said no, and we went off and hit the ground running around the table, and evolved the new material.”

Is Russell Crowe Involved With Gladiator 2?

Russell Crowe, who originally starred as Maximus in the first Gladiator, has repeatedly expressed that he is not involved with the new sequel.

“I mean, look, the only thing that I really feel about it is slightly jealous, you know? Because I was a much younger man, obviously, and it was a huge experience in my life,” original Gladiator star Russell Crowe explained in an interview earlier this year. “It’s something that changed my life, really. It changed the way people regarded me and what I do for a living, and, you know, I’ve been very lucky to be involved in lots of big movies, but the legs on that film are incredible. Here it is, it’s 2023, and we made that film in 1999. I guarantee you, somewhere around the world tonight, Gladiator is going to be showing on primetime TV. And you don’t always get that kind of longevity with every film you do, so, it obviously holds a special place in my heart.”

Are you excited for the Gladiator sequel? What do you think of Paul Mescal’s new comments? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!