By Naomi Clarke, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
Paul Mescal has said he values his family’s opinion on his films the most following the Irish premiere of Sir Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated Gladiator sequel.
The Irish star, 28, portrays a grown-up Lucius in the historical epic alongside Oscar-winner Denzel Washington and Narcos star Pedro Pascal.
Gladiator II is set years after the original 2000 film which starred Russell Crowe as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who ends up in slavery after the murder of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Speaking on Today FM’s Dave Moore show on Friday after the film’s Irish premiere in Dublin, Mescal said: “There’s versions of this which are on both sides of the scale overwhelming, and last night was on the utterly positive side of overwhelming.
“It’s like homecoming and back in a city that I feel totally comfortable in.
“Ultimately, you make films for a general audience, but the buck stops for me with what my mum and dad think, what my aunties and uncles think, the people I love, what they think about it.”
He revealed his immediate family group chat was the first place he called after securing the Gladiator role, but they knew to keep the news under wraps.
“They’re well versed, they have a deep desire to tell the whole world but they’re good at keeping a secret”, he added.
In the new action epic, Lucius fights as a gladiator for former slave-turned-merchant Macrinus, played by Washington.
The film’s trailer confirms Lucius is the son of Crowe’s slain Maximus and not Lucius Verus, as he was led to believe.
Reflecting on acting alongside Washington, Mescal said: “He’s having the most fun in this film …
“When I went to drama school, my acting teacher always said ‘Nothing trumps experience’. And you can feel in his performance with the experience, the comfort that he feels in front of the camera, and the way that he’s picking his way through the most interesting choice to find a way to play this, on paper, villainous character.
“But he’s pulling the audience in with little breadcrumbs. To get to watch that performance on screen is one thing. Can you imagine being five feet in front of it? Amazing.”
The Irish star, who was a minor and under-21s county football player for Kildare, said the atmosphere coming up to the film’s release on November 15 was similar to the anticipation for a big game.
“At the moment, I feel like we’re in our final lead into a championship final, and everybody’s fit and healthy so we’re feeling good”, he said.
The sequel has high expectations to live up to after the original film won five Oscars, including best picture and best actor for Crowe.
Mescal revealed he usually goes to his house in west Cork to relax after filming a tense role.
“I’ll get out wherever it is, and I’ll go down there and decompress”, he said.
“But I don’t carry it around. Some days are harder than others, and it takes a little second.”
He also confirmed that chicken was his go-to protein when bulking for the part, and he scandalised Irish listeners by revealing he had not had a cup of tea with his co-stars as he does not drink it.
He said: “I’m going to get in trouble for this – I don’t drink tea. Everyone’s going on about Barry’s tea and whenever people don’t know, I just go ‘I love Barry’s tea’.”
Gladiator II will be released in UK cinemas on November 15th.
