Twenty-four years ago, Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” revolutionized the genre of historical films, winning the Oscar for best picture and making a mark in cinema history forever. “Gladiator II” is a continuation of the epic saga of power, intrigue and revenge. Lucius (Paul Mescal) witnessed the death of Maximus at the hands of his uncle Commodus as a child. Now he decides to fight in the Colosseum as a gladiator to oppose the two emperors who rule Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and hope for a brighter future for the Empire, Lucius must look to the past to find the strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to his people.
The cast of “Gladiator II” is a mix of talents that will attract both younger viewers and loyal fans of the original. Paul Mescal plays the main role, accompanied by Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington and Connie Nielsen, who returns as Lucilla.
Josh Brolin recently recalled working with Denzel Washington on the set of the film “American Gangster” (another Scott production). He confessed that there was almost a serious confrontation between them.
While participating in the “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” podcast, the actor admitted that one day during filming, Washington was late to the set. The actors were to perform a scene together and the actor showed Brolin the script with the changed order of the lines. Since Brolin was then an actor who, as he says, was being tested, he felt very nervous standing in front of Denzel Washington. As a result, he forgot a short line of text.
When he asked Denzel Washington for help and put his hand on his shoulder, he reacted quite sharply.
“He shook my hand and said ‘don’t touch me’ (…) I thought there would be a fight,” Brolin said.
Fortunately, the gentlemen quickly cleared up the misunderstanding, and relations between them are good to this day.
See also: We fell in love with this movie over two decades ago. Now it returns in a new form