'Gladiator II' star Paul Mescal, director Ridley Scott and more talk revisiting Rome 2 decades later
Nearly two and a half decades after the monumental film "Gladiator" hit theaters, acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott is returning the iconic Roman-era epic to the big screen with "Gladiator II."
The film, starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen and more, is a Roman warrior story of redemption, family and nation, told on a scale big enough to match its preceding legacy.
In an interview with "Good Morning America," the cast opened up about making the second installment of a classic, carrying on the "Gladiator" legacy and how Scott "built" Rome for the new film.
"Let's go back to business," said Scott, explaining his decision to return to the franchise. "It's such a monumental success, you'd be a fool not to try 'Gladiator II.'"
"We thought about it for 24 years -- not every day, it was always there in the back of my mind," he continued. "But in that time, I did 17 other movies. Big ones. So, it really wasn't an incredible challenge other than saying 'It would be nice to get to it,' And we finally got to it by sitting down at a table and saying, 'Whatever happened to Lucius?'"
'This was something that I always wanted to do'
Enter: Mescal as Lucius, the son of Maximus -- the main character from "Gladiator," played by Russell Crowe -- and Lucilla, the elder child of the late Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
The "Normal People" star has risen from obscurity to worldwide acclaim in four short years following his performances in films like "Aftersun" and "All of Us Strangers."
"Gladiator II" follows Lucius' return to Rome as a slave after living his early life outside the bounds of the empire. Taking up the leading role of the Gladiator film, according to Mescal, was in line with a plan he had set out for himself.
"I am ambitious with the career that I want," he said.
"This was something that I always wanted to do, but I wanted it to be in the right hands and the right story," he added, gesturing to Scott.
Under Scott's guidance, the first "Gladiator" pulled in five Oscars, including the awards for best picture, best actor for Crowe, best sound, best visual effects and best costume design.
"If you want to do an action epic, there's no better director to do it with or better kind of story to do it with than 'Gladiator II,'" Mescal said.
Mescal undoubtedly had big boots to fill, succeeding Crowe as the leading man in the sequel. According to two-time Oscar winner Washington, who plays Macrinus in the new film, Mescal was more than able to carry the staggering legacy of Crowe's character.
"First of all, he pulls it off," said Washington. "I can only imagine the pressure he must have felt coming behind Russell 25 years later."
Despite that pressure, Mescal made clear his dominant feeling was one of excitement. "Obviously there was a nervousness attached to it and concern because you care about the work that you do," he said. "But the predominant thing was one of getting ready to go -- and excited about it, to be honest."
'It's a different Rome this time'
Chronologically, the second edition of Scott's Roman fighter story picks up 16 years after the death of Crowe's character Maximus at the end of the first film.
"There's obviously the bridge to the first film," said Nielsen, who reprises her role as Lucilla from the first installment, adding that Scott crafted an "incredible story" that paints a new picture of Rome for the second film.
"The fact is you just see a completely different story. It's a different Rome this time," she said.
The Roman Empire of the latest "Gladiator" film is a violent regime, decaying internally, fixated on expansion, growth and perceived wealth, all while neglecting the needs of its people. In part, that decay can be seen through Rome's ruling class.
Washington's character Macrinus joins forces in the film with Joseph Quinn's character Emperor Geta and Fred Hechinger's character Emperor Caracalla -- based on the historical figures and brothers of the same names -- co-emperors who embody the moral depravity that has besieged Rome.
"I think a big idea and aspect of Caracalla and Geta is that they're excess -- they're where excess goes to die. They're kind of like rotting gold," said Hechinger.
That decay is visible in Hechinger and Quinn's chilling costume design -- which is laden with gaudy gold jewelry -- a stark contrast with the Roman people starving outside of the palace.
"I have a vivid memory of beginning to put on some rings... suddenly I got five rings on this hand... now we're [at] eight rings…" Hechinger said, describing the experience of building his costume with Janty Yates, the costume designer responsible for the costumes in both "Gladiator" films.
Eventually, Hechinger said he and Yates decided Caracalla "is a 10-ring kind of guy."
'They built Rome, basically'
Scott's Rome, which he built with production designer Arthur Max, featured more than 500 extras filling rows in a replica Colosseum that reached a third of the original structure's actual size.
Similar to the first film, "Gladiator II" was mainly shot in Malta and Morocco.
"We went back to the same countries that we did on the first time, cause we know them like the back of our hand," said Max. "It's familiar territory." He added that knowing the "lay of the land" made it easier to pull off the cinematic feat.
The Roman set that Max and Scott pulled together didn't skimp on the details either. The set for Macrinus' home, for instance, contained over 1,000 pieces of painted faux marble.
"I'd never been on sets like that," said Washington, explaining the scope of the production. "They built Rome, basically."
Mescal said actors on Scott's set are immersed in the world of "Gladiator" -- barring the cameras of course, though he was sure to note that Scott even dresses up the camera operators in costume.
"It is a total, total gift," said Mescal of the elaborate set design. "You walk onto set, and if you can't act in that environment, I don't think this job is for you."
"Gladiator II" premieres in the U.S. on Nov. 22.
