Paul Mescal's incredible body transformation for Gladiator II - how Irish star gained 10kg of muscle
Paul Mescal, who is best known for his role as student Connell Waldron in Normal People, underwent a dramatic body transformation to play Lucius in Ridley Scott's Gladiator II
Irish actor Paul Mescal has boldly stepped into the iconic role of Lucius in Ridley Scott's much-anticipated blockbuster Gladiator II, the sequel to the Oscar-lauded original that starred Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius.
The leading role has undoubtedly rocketed the Kildare native actor straight into the stratosphere of Tinseltown's elite.
Chatting with OK! and other reporters at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, the Maynooth actor shared that while the world is preparing to see him lead the cast in one of the most anticipated films of recent years, he's just focusing on taking things step by step.
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On what it was like working with Sir Ridley, who directed such iconic films as Alien and Blade Runner, Paul said: "Ridley doesn't wait around. I think he was pretty conscious of the fact that he wanted to start with a bang, just to let us know what we were stepping into. For the first day, we shot the opening sequence in Morocco – a battle sequence. The key cast were kept in little holding tents and I was walking around with my sword, furiously smoking – just waiting to be summoned to the set.
"Then we hear over the radio that Ridley Scott 's coming to say hello and he comes in smoking a cigar. He looks at us and goes, 'Are you nervous?' I wasn't really sure what the appropriate response was, so I think I just made a noise. He then whacked me on my back and said, 'Your nerves are no f**king good to me!'.
"And then he proceeds to turn over the cameras. As we walked on to the set, that's when I saw the scale for the first time. That was the first day."
By that point, Paul had already scaled a metaphorical mountain, bulking up with an extra 20lbs of muscle, only to have to maintain his new physique much longer than planned due to the Sag-Aftra actors' strike throwing schedules into chaos. The wrap delay meant he was left with scant weeks to shed the weight again as he was due on the set of History Of Sound straight after.
"I had to lose 10 kilos, so the last two weeks of the Gladiator shoot, instead of lifting weights, my poor trainer saw the worst of me – because you're on a treadmill for an hour and a half and you've no energy," he recalls. "I was not in the best form, let's say, for the last two weeks of the Gladiator shoot. To give you an honest answer, that was the hardest part of it."
Paul reveals that bulking up was essential for his turn as Lucius in the epic drama, the grown son of Roman hero Maximus. Lucius's life spirals when he is torn from his family and reduced to slavery by the scheming general Marcus Acacius, a character brought to life by Narcos lead Pedro Pascal.
Paul previously revealed that his training for the role was 'focused on fight choreography' to build a gladiator physique - rather than sculpting him into a sex symbol'.
"I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage when s*** hits the fan," he said.
Despite getting having to get into shape for the film, Paul revealed that he didn't have to starve himself to achieve his impressive physique.
Appearing on Pandora Christie's Heart Evening show on Wednesday, Paul also explained how he was encouraged to eat everything he fancied.
"It was lots of lifting heavy things and running around the place. But I literally had anything that I could have ever wanted," he revealed.
"Burgers and chips and everything!"
Appearing alongside Paul in Gladiator II is none other than Denzel Washington, whose portrayal of Macrinus, an ex-slave and gladiator trainer conspiring to dominate Rome, sets the screen alight. Reflecting on his experience with the two-time Academy Award-winner Denzel, Paul described it as a masterclass in acting subtlety: "The thing that I found so inspiring and relaxing was that he's not reinventing the wheel," he marvels.
"He's got this extraordinary talent, but it's not like he's having a special breakfast in the morning or injecting himself with acting magic or anything. He's just going to work on a very, very practical level and informing the role that he's playing with all of the experience that he's had before."
Paul, who captured hearts as Connell Waldron in the hit BBC series Normal People back in 2020, didn't let the limelight of joining a stellar cast in a Ridley Scott blockbuster intimidate him. Cool as ever, he shared with us that his days as captain of the school Gaelic football team couldn't compare to the leadership required on a film set.
"Leading a film in terms of being in that position of leadership, it has nothing to do with talent, it has everything to do with attitude," he says. “You have to be the person who's there first in the morning. If you feel like [camera] set-ups are taking longer, don't wait in your trailer, instead, get in front of the camera because the minute an actor's in front of a camera and waiting, everything goes way faster".
The down-to-earth actor also believes in grabbing the space you want firmly: "You've just got to take up the space that you want to occupy – and sometimes there's a bit of faking it until you make it. But that part of it is, thankfully – whatever I've learned through Gaelic football and sport."
Reflecting on his childhood memories, Paul remembers that he was only four when the original Gladiator movie was released, a film he often watched with his father—a teacher. The recent London premiere of the film meant the world to him, especially having his dad by his side.
"I don't know where I learned this, but it's always been that I can enjoy something for not a huge length of time," he shares. "In 10 years' time, I'll look back on these last three years in terms of what's going on in my personal life and what's going on in my professional life and I'll think, 'You're doing well to just put one foot in front of the other.'"
He continues thoughtfully, "I don't have a proper answer in terms of what it actually means to me – other than the fact that I can see from the people around me that it's been a really special time."
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