Paul Mescal, who is best known for his heartbreaking performances in Normal People and Aftersun, got into ridiculous physical shape for his upcoming movie, Gladiator II, but he didn’t train like a typical Hollywood actor.
Hollywood workouts have become a hot commodity over the last few decades. Ever since Hugh Jackman put on a mountain of muscle to portray Wolverine in X-Men 2: The Last Stand, actors have been following suit, especially for action and superhero roles. As a result, discussing and promoting their workouts has become a staple of movie PR strategies, just as much as regular junkets and interviews.
But Paul Mescal didn’t want to conform to the standard convention, and took a fresh approach to his muscular, but athletic character, Lucius, in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator sequel. Speaking to Empire Magazine, Paul Mescal revealed that he trained for performance, rather than aesthetics, to play Lucius in Gladiator II. When he was first cast in the role, Mescal thought he wouldn’t train at all, attempting to go against the grain of standard masculine characters.
“You know what? I’m just gonna make gladiators look normal,” Mecall said about his initial preparation for the project. However, he later concluded that it would “be me getting in the way of the story.” The actor initially struggled to comprehend how a real Gladiator would look, explaining:
“How do they survive this level of violence that we have no real comprehension of today in a sporting context? The only way you can do that is if you’re robust and able to take the impact of near-death experiences on a day-to-day basis. So then it just meant lifting heavy things for a long time and eating lots of chicken.”
Hollywood’s love of promoting actors’ workouts has resulted in some questionable and gimmick-filled workout trends being pushed on regular people. “Health”-based media outlets have promoted various, unproven pieces of equipment and exercise techniques. Paul Mescal wasn’t having any of that, and treated his training for Gladiator II as a professional athlete would. While Gladiators may not exist in the 21st Century, combat sports like boxing and mixed martial arts are immensely popular and share obvious similarities with the ancient form of entertainment.
But Mescal didn’t draw from any modern martial arts for his training. Instead, he looked back at a sport he used to play as a child and teenager growing up in Ireland: Gaelic football. A hybrid of soccer and rugby, Gaelic football is an incredibly physical sport that requires extreme levels of strength and conditioning. Mescal knew this would be a perfect training style to get in shape to play Lucius. He explained:
“This ideal image that has been informed by superhero films – that was something I was keen to avoid. Because superheroes don’t exist, but gladiators did. We don’t really know what they looked like, but they were prime athletes raised in stables, and they trained every day. So I was like, ‘Let’s just go back to what I’m used to – which is Gaelic football training.'”
Gladiator II
releases in theaters on November 22, 2024.