Paul Mescal reveals how he nosed ahead of the competition to win the lead role in Gladiator II

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PAUL Mescal has revealed his “Roman nose” landed him the role of Lucius in the highly anticipated sequel to Gladiator. The 28-year-old, who plays the lead in the Hollywood blockbuster, admits his noble hooter may have been the reason he was cast ahead of other actors desperate for the coveted role.

Paul, who - along with his gold chain - shot to fame in drama series Normal People, says being a part of Gladiator II and working with award winning director Ridley Scott was a dream come true.

The hunky Irishman, who did most of his own stunts and spent six months getting buff for the movie’s fight scenes, said: “ I have jokingly said that my nose was one of the reasons Ridley chose me for this film. I don’t know. I’m just so grateful that he saw whatever he saw in me and that I got to work with him and be a part of all of this.

“I was in awe. Ridley is a master at what he does. He is the most incredible visionary director. To be on set with him and to see what he does was insane. It really was like watching a master at work.

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“I certainly never envisaged playing a role like this and I had no idea that there even was going to be a Gladiator sequel until the script came to me. It all came as a surprise to me.”

Paul, who is dating American pop singer Gracie Abrams, added: “I’m just glad that it’s here and people can see the film. It’s taken a long time to get to this point so it’s exciting. I’m really proud to be a part of this film and of how it has turned out. It’s a great film. I don’t think anyone is going to be disappointed.”

More than two decades after the events of Gladiator, Mescal’s character Lucius - the son of Lucilla and Maximus - lives with his wife and child in Numidia.

Roman soldiers led by General Marcus Acacius, who is played by Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal, invade, killing his wife and forcing Lucius into slavery and the Colosseum.

Paul admits getting ripped for the role was no mean feat. He said: “It took a lot of training over quite a long period of time - five or six months. Lots of weightlifting and trying to eat all the right things and lots of it, which was tough at times and something I had never done for a role before. But the preparation for this was the same as for any role, that’s how I came at it anyway. The physical aspect is as much part of playing any character as learning the script.”

Paul, who will play William Shakespeare in Hamnet, added: “There were so many challenges. It was physically tough and technically difficult at times. The training really helped but the one thing I wasn’t really prepared for was the heat and working on a project of such a huge scale. “Filming fight scenes in Malta with such intense heat was tough. We’re talking temperatures of up to 110 degrees, that was pretty difficult to say the least for someone from Ireland like me.

“I did pretty much all of my own stunts.Of course I had an incredible stunt team to help me but, because of the way Ridley shoots, it’s kind of hard to use a double when you are being filmed at such close-quarters.

“But the hardest scenes to shoot were really not the action scenes at all. The scene with Lucius and his mother in the cell at the beginning of the film was something I knew we had to get right to make the rest of the film work and also the scene with Denzel Washington at the end. They were both emotionally challenging.”

Paul admits he couldn’t resist taking home some souvenirs from the set. He said: “I have a couple of the costumes I wore - one as Lucius and one Maximus. I didn’t just take them by the way, I did ask!.

“But the best thing was that Ridley gave me three pages of his hand-drawn story boards for the film as a gift, which I was blown away by. I had them framed and they now have pride-of-place on my wall.”

The Deceived star reveals although he was a big fan of the first movie, he didn’t go back and watch it again before he started filming the sequel.

He said: “I think like everybody, I was a huge fan of the first film. It’s an incredible piece of work and Russell Crowe is brilliant in it of course. Going into this we all really wanted to pay homage to that first film for the audience but also to treat this as something entirely new.

“I didn’t go back and watch the first film again, for example. There was no point. I think everyone was honoured to be part of this process and while you have to acknowledge the legacy of the first film and everything that comes with that, we all just set about making the best film we possibly could. I think we have done that.”

Paul, who starred opposite Saoirse Ronan in sci-fi movie Foe, added: “Politically, I think the story of this movie is very relevant to a lot of what is going on in the Middle East, in the US and all around the world right now.

“It’s a case of history repeating itself over and over and how important it is that people stand up for what they believe in and to be brave.”

- Gladiator II is in cinemas now

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