Denzel Washington will be sharing the screen space alongside Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal in the upcoming movie, Gladiator II. As the actor gears up for his big role as Macrinus in the film, Washington spills the beans over his character and how it will serve the storyline of the movie.
In conversation with the entertainment portal, the actor shared that Macrinus will return to Rome. Washington will reprise his role from the previous movie, wherein he starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix.
Meanwhile, elaborating over his role in Gladiator II, the Man on Fire actor revealed that in the upcoming part of the franchise, “He’s trying to use everybody. He’d use his mother; he’d use his own children; he’s already used up his soul, so he didn’t have any left. He’s in bed with the devil.”
The actor further added, “When you would walk around, you were in Rome, and it seemed like 10,000 extras and horses. It was make-believe, it was play, it was fun; just put the gear on, put the dress on and go—that’s the way I look at it. I’m putting this dress on, these rings and I’m going crazy.”
Mescal, who will play one of the lead characters in the movie, also joined the veteran actor in his interview and shared his thoughts over the movie. Speaking of his character of Lucius in the movie, the Normal People actor revealed that while initially he had a different image of the role, as the days passed, he realized, “I always saw him like a dog, like somebody who would just scrape his way to survival.”
Further in the conversations, Mescal explained that the movie is quite special to him as the sequel to the Ridley Scott-directed 2000’s film is set to hit theaters after 24 years, and to maintain the level and the elements in place can be a task for him.
The Irish actor revealed, “I think it’s made by the only man who could ever touch it, in Ridley Scott, and personally, as his friend and his long admirer, I think it’s one of his finest pieces of work that I’ve seen in recent times.”
He added, “I’m so utterly proud of his work, my work, and everybody sitting here and everybody who’s not sitting here. I don’t think anybody can take that away from us.”
Gladiator II is set to hit theaters on November 15.
