“He has something rough in him”: Even if Dune 2 Wins Timothée Chalamet an Oscar, He’s Yet to Achieve 1 Thing Paul Mescal Already Has
- Timothée Chalamet and Miles Teller were considered for Lucius Verus II Ridley Scott's Gladiator II.
- Ridley Scott was highly impressed with Paul Mescal's work on Normal People.
- Steven Spielberg said NO to the script written by Nick Cave as a sequel for Gladiator.
Ridley Scott’s epic historical action film, Gladiator II, with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal taking the lead, has been one of the biggest movies of 2024. A sequel to 2000’s Gladiator, the recently released movie showcased Mescal’s Lucius seeking his revenge against Pascal’s General Acacius. The movie opened up to a positive response from the critics, who praised the direction, storyline, action sequences, and performances of the actors.
After a lot of going back and forth since 2001, the sequel was finally confirmed in 2018 with Paul Mescal joining the cast in January 2023. While Mescal has been appreciated for his work on the movie, recent reports have suggested that one Dune 2 actor was being considered for playing Lucius Verus II in the movie.
Ridley Scott wanted Timothée Chalamet in Gladiator 2, and then he watched Paul Mescal’s Normal People
In a recent cover story for The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Ridley Scott shared that finding the lead actor for Gladiator II, who has enough gravity to portray Lucius Verus II on-screen, was challenging. He noted that Timothée Chalamet and Miles Teller were two actors who were being considered for the part, but then Scott ended up binge-watching Normal People.
Paul Mescal plays Connell Waldron in the Hulu series Normal People alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and was able to impress Scott with his performance to land the lead role in Gladiator II. The publication shared that the Paramount co-presidents of the film, Daria Cercek, and Michael Ireland, had flown from London to watch Mescal as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Producer Douglas Wick shared that any studio would always prefer to have an actor who is known as the lead, but no one came close to Mescal for the part. Even though Chalamet and Teller have been bigger stars than Mescal comparatively, considering the amount of years and time they have spent in the industry. But, according to the producer, Ridley Scott was highly impressed with Paul Mescal, and within 30 minutes of their Zoom call, the actor had the part.
The Irish actor has garnered praise and attention for his recent works in indie movies, including Aftersun and All of Us Strangers. It would have been very interesting to see Chalamet fighting Pedro Pascal in the arena, for which Mescal transformed himself physically.
Chalamet has been lauded for his performance in Dune 2 and is gearing up for his upcoming movie, A Complete Unknown which already has Oscar buzz. The actor has however not yet appeared in a project where he had to physically transform himself, so that’s one thing pending for the Academy Award nominee.
After the news of Chalamet being considered for Lucius Verus II was shared, fans took to their social media to share how bulked up Chalamet would appear. But a user argued with a valid point, stating,
He is too beautiful and polished to play this character. Mescal is not that beautiful. He has something rough in him.
Well, indeed it’s true that Chalamet’s face and personality come off as a very poised and polished person. But he is regarded as one of the best actors in the current generation for a reason.
A user mentioned, ‘Timothée Chalamet as a gladiator. That would’ve been a whole new level of intimidating’. While another wrote that they could not imagine because they’d end up worrying about him.
Steven Spielberg said NO to the Gladiator II script by music legend Nick Cave
In his conversation with The New York Times, Ridley Scott recalled how music legend Nick Cave had written the script for the sequel, but after being consulted with Steven Spielberg, it was scrapped. He explained,
There was even a sequel idea that the musician Nick Cave wrote, where Maximus is resurrected as an instrument of the Roman gods dispatched against Jesus Christ. That obviously didn’t happen. It got too grand. Nick is very high theater, and Steven Spielberg said, ‘Nah.’
Ridley Scott shared that he wasn’t actually confident about what they had actually put together, so he just let it go. Scott is already working on the third part of the movie, and in October he confirmed that he has already started writing.
According to THR, Paul Mescal has recently signed on to reteam with the filmmaker for a thriller titled Dog Stars, noting that he’d be happy to slip into a codpiece for Ridley Scott. The actor said they haven’t spoken about the upcoming thriller movie in detail or at great length, but it’s an idea that has got him excited.
Mark L. Smith is reportedly adapting the script for the thriller movie based on the 2012 apocalyptic thriller by Peter Heller. It follows a pilot and an ex-marine as they try to survive in the aftermath of a pandemic.
Gladiator II is now playing in cinemas.
