Paul Mescal was nervous ahead of Gladiator II filming

Paul Mescal was "s*******" himself on the first day of 'Gladiator II' filming.

The 28-year-old actor leads the cast of the long-awaited sequel as Lucius and while he was feeling anxious about his first day shooting with Pedro Pascal, director Sir Ridley Scott soon put paid to his nerves with a brief pep talk.

During a Q+A of the movie following a special screening in Los Angeles on Friday (18.10.24), People magazine reports Paul said: “The first day on set was me and Pedro, and we were consciously kept in the tents, kind of outside of the city walls.

"We were sitting in the tents and I was smoking a cigarette, and we were kind of marching around the place and Ridley comes in with a cigar.

“I was absolutely s******* myself. And he looks at me and he goes, ‘You nervous?’ And I… didn't know what the appropriate answer was. So I was like, ‘Ah...' "

He explained the 86-year-old filmmaker patted him on the back and added: "He's like, ‘Bang, your nerves are no f------ good to me.' So [he] marches us out."

Meanwhile, the director recently admitted he is already considering a third movie in the series.

He told France's Premiere magazine: “With that, I’m already toying with the idea of ​​'Gladiator 3'. No, seriously! I’ve lit the fuse…

“The ending of 'Gladiator II' is reminiscent of 'The Godfather', with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he didn’t want, and wondering, ‘Now, Father, what do I do?’ So the next [film] will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.”

Ridley recently declared 'Gladiator II' to be one of his best ever films.

He told Empire magazine: "It’s the best thing I’ve ever made ... One of the best things. I’ve made a few good ’uns."

This comes after the filmmaker revealed the project – which also stars Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn – boasts the "biggest action sequence" of his entire career, even bigger than his 2023 historical drama 'Napoleon'.

He explained: "We begin the film with probably the biggest action sequence I’ve ever done. [It's] probably bigger than anything in 'Napoleon'."