Gladiator 2 Cast Its Russell Crowe Successor Thanks To This Hidden TV Gem

While Paul Mescal's "Gladiator 2" casting seems to suggest that his best actor Oscar-nominated turn in "After Sun" opened the door for him to join the film, Ridley Scott says it was actually one of the performer's lesser-known credits that put him on his radar. "Gladiator 2," of course, is the long-awaited sequel to Scott's 2000 best picture Oscar winner, which also yielded star Russell Crowe a best actor statuette for playing the film's titular gladiator, Maximus.

Now, with "Gladiator 2" scheduled for release on November 22, 2024, Scott is starting to share some behind-the-scenes tales of the production, including the time he realized he found the actor to play the lead role in the sequel. Luckily for Mescal, Scott happened to be tuning into his 2020 Hulu miniseries "Normal People," a tale set in Ireland that chronicles the complicated romance between Mescal's and Daisy Edgar-Jones' characters, Connell and Marianne.

In an interview with Total Film, Scott recalled how he was floored by Mescal's acting ability and explained how it led to him being the heir apparent to Crowe for "Gladiator 2." "Can I see Paul Mescal being as big as Russell Crowe? For sure," Scott said. "I watched 'Normal People.' It's not my kind of show but I saw four episodes in a row – boom, boom, boom. I was thinking, 'Who the hell is this Paul Mescal?' And then I watched the whole series. And then, suddenly, 'Gladiator 2' came up, because the script was working pretty well. And I kept thinking about Paul. And that was it."

In the climactic third act of "Gladiator," Russell Crowe's Maximus faces off in a one-on-one battle against Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in the Roman Colosseum. Maximus kills Commodus during the battle but succumbs to dagger wounds inflicted by the evil emperor prior to the match.

Since Maximus perishes at the end of "Gladiator," Ridley Scott and his team had to get creative in constructing a story that would justify a sequel — and it took a while. "Why now? It didn't have a script [before]," Scott explained to Total Film regarding the long-delayed sequel's timing. "We tried, actually, four years ago, and I chose a very good writer who couldn't get his head around it. He wrestled. He was terribly upset that he didn't deliver. He's a friend of mine. I said, 'You're not getting there?' He said, 'No.' That took 10 months. So it went dead."

Scott told the publication that things came together when he and his collaborators raised the question of what became of Commodus' nephew Lucius — played by Mescal — who as it turns out, is the illegitimate son of his sister, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and Maximus. "When we circled the wagons again, coming back with a very obvious idea, and why not? There's a survivor," Scott told Total Film. "The survivor is the son of the union between Lucilla and Maximus."

Nielsen will reprise Lucilla in "Gladiator 2," joining Djimon Hounsou, who will once again play Maximus' ally Juba. In addition, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal will also suit up for Scott's "Gladiator" sequel.