Denzel Washington’s Nonchalant Confession is Hard to Believe After Seeming Nervous While Meeting King Charles

Regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 21st century, Denzel Washington recently appeared in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II as Marcrinus. The actor has been appreciated for his performance in the movie, which he mentioned he said yes to only because Scott was involved in the project. Washington has been a part of some of the highly successful and iconic projects over the years, and it’s not surprising when he recently shared that he hasn’t auditioned for a role in almost four decades.

Upon release, Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, has garnered a positive response from the critics as well as the audience. The performances of the actors have been appreciated. The cast of the team met King Charles III at the London premiere of the movie, and Washington explains his experience.

Gladiator II star Denzel Washington reveals what King Charles III told him during their flustered exchange

Actor Denzel Washington appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live when he was asked about the viral meeting video of the cast of Gladiator II meeting King Charles II at the London premiere of the movie. The video also included Washington stammering and awkwardly telling the King;

I didn’t know if I was supposed to grab your hand or not.

The actor shared with the host that the entire meeting was so strange because the Royal Family has a set of rules that people who are about to meet them need to follow. The rules are simple: one cannot get close to them while speaking, let them speak first, and don’t shake their hands before they shake hands first, and he added that he forgot everything. The actor noted it was his first King, that he remembers.

Kimmel later asked Washington if he had prepared himself about what he’d say to him beforehand, to which the actor said, ‘No.’ And then he recalled that King Charles III told him that he loved all of his movies.

However, according to Pure Wow, Washington, who has such a strong personality, his body language while meeting the King looked like he was a nervous wreck. The publication wrote,

Although he leaned in while talking to the King, he kept his shoulders in a stoic position and used his head to lessen the space between the two, which indicates that he was unsure how to behave.

The publication also mentioned that after the handshake, Washington immediately pulled his hands back, which indicates nervousness. Now, according to what he shared with Jimmy Kimmel, he forgot all the rules, it’s pretty obvious to react nervously when you have no idea how to react to the King standing in front of you waiting for a reaction.

Ridley Scott, Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal, and Connie Nielson were also the attendees to meet the King at the premiere. Mescal shared with Variety that he’s Irish, so meeting the King was not on the list of priorities for him.

But he added that it’s an amazing thing for Scott because he knows how much it meant to him, so to see his movie celebrated in that context was special for him.

Ridley Scott clarifies Denzel Washington’s ‘same-sex’ kiss never making it to the final cut in Gladiator II

In an interview with Variety, Ridley Scott clarified the fact that Denzel Washington’s ‘same-sex’ kiss in the movie never made it to the final cut. He said,

No, that’s bullshit. They never did. They acted the moment—it didn’t happen.

Washington, during an interview with Gaytey, had shared that he had actually kissed a man in the movie, but they took it out; they cut it by stating that they might have chickened out. The actor at the time mentioned that maybe the studios weren’t ready for that before adding that he killed that man about five minutes later.

The actor described the kiss as the ‘kiss of death.’ Connie Nielson, who plays Lucilla in the movie, shared her view on the same. She stated that it was not about homophobia, but there wasn’t any room for the scene in the movie. Michael Pruss, producer of the movie, explained that there was so much stuff that was shot that didn’t make it to the final cut.

Now at the premiere, Washington walked back his actual comment about the kiss and clarified that it was a simple ‘peck’ on the lips. He said the publications are making more of it than it was, adding that he had kissed him on the hands, gave him a peck, and killed him.

Gladiator II is playing in cinemas.