Paul Mescal wants Gladiator III to happen

Paul Mescal is “massively down” for a third ‘Gladiator’ movie.

The 28-year-old actor stars in director Sir Ridley Scott’s new historical epic - which is a sequel to the 2000 original, which starred Russell Crowe - as the former heir to the Roman Empire-turned slave Lucius Venus, and he has admitted he would be up for another film, which he joked wouldn’t take another 24 years to make.

When Variety asked Mescal if he would want a third instalment in the ‘Gladiator’ franchise, he said: “Oh yeah, [I’m] massively down.

“I don’t think it will be [24] years — but I have no idea when it will be.”

‘Gladiator II’ had its Global Premiere in London on Wednesday night (13.11.24) which was attended by Mescal and his co-stars Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen Joseph Quinn, Denzel Washington and director Sir Ridley Scott among others.

The premiere was also a Royal Performance with King Charles III in attendance, though Queen Camilla was not able to make it to the event due to a seasonal chest infection.

Before the premiere, King Charles hosted the cast and crew of ‘Gladiator II’ at a Buckingham Palace reception, something Mescal said was a “wildly overwhelming” experience.

Mescal told Sky News: “I'm struggling with words at the moment.

“This has been an absolutely, wildly - I keep using the word overwhelming - but I think if this isn't slightly overwhelming then I don't know what the hell is. I'm having a great time.”

‘Gladiator II’ follows Lucius (Mescal) who is thrown into the Colosseum to fight for his life and his people after being taken as a slave by Macrinus (Washington).

While he was overjoyed to joined the project, Mescal revealed he vowed to not watch the first ‘Gladiator’ as to ensure he didn’t subconsciously lift characteristics from Crowe’s Maximus for his portrayal of Lucius.

He explained to Digital Spy: “I made two decisions. One was to not watch the first film again once I'd been cast, and the second one was just play the character that's on the page. If I was to try and play something that was like Maximus, it would have just been boring for me.

“I don't want to be shooting a film that's going to be, for me, not something that I'm excited to go and do every day.”

The ‘All of Us Strangers’ star added he had to decipher the life of his gladiator to make sure he did justice to the character.

He said: “Playing a person who's not you, in any context, is always challenging. You always kind of doubt yourself at certain moments, but you're just trying to become a detective about somebody else's life.

“That's something that can just keep you awake, because there's no end point to that journey. Like, you never arrive at the end and go like: 'I know who this person is fully.' You have a suspicion, and you just trying to follow that suspicion.”