The work of putting together an ensemble of actors for Gladiator 2 is in full swing and as we have previously reported rumors about, it will be Paul Mescal who takes the lead role after a period of negotiation. It is now clear that he will portray Lucius in Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel. Lucius, who was the nephew of the first film’s antagonist Commodus, who in turn was played by Joaquin Phoenix. In the movie Lucius and Lucilla were saved by Maximus, played by Russell Crowe and it seems this is where Scott picks up the ball. For what he specifically said earlier in the interview, how you don’t just sit down and make another Gladiator movie; “You can’t just do another Gladiator-type movie. You’ve got to follow…there’s enough components from the first one to pick up the ball and continue it.”
Now it will be Mescal’s turn to shoulder the mantle in the sequel to the film that won Russell Crowe an Oscar, and according to Ridley Scott, it is absolutely the right choice. Deadline reports that a first draft of the script was completed in November and that Paul Mescal was one of the first to sit down with the director and sweet music emerged immediately. Scott of course met more other talents, but it was clear early on that Mescal was the first choice.
Irishman Paul Pescal broke through in 2020 in the acclaimed BBC mini-series Normal People, where he starred opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones.
