Gladiator 2 Actors’ Grueling Training Was Tougher Than You Think!

Ridley Scott has once again proven his prowess in capturing riveting action scenes in “Gladiator II.” The arena sequences are particularly breathtaking, featuring battles with wild animals and a gripping duel between Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal. For these scenes, the actors underwent rigorous preparation, especially Paul Mescal, who was in all the film’s intense scenes.

Six months prior to filming, the movie’s lead actor began an intense training regimen—six days a week—and followed a strict diet, receiving four meals a day. For his role as Lucius, Paul Mescal told Variety that he gained 20 pounds of muscle. After filming ended, he had to lose a total of 24 pounds for his next project, “The History of Sound.”

Mescal also had to learn sword fighting from a coach and horseback riding—against director Ridley Scott’s initial wishes. Two weeks before shooting the film’s climactic horse chase, Scott was opposed to Mescal performing the stunt himself to avoid any accidents. However, after months of training, the actor decided to do it anyway.

Don’t do this kind of thing at my age.

On his part, Pedro Pascal admitted that he had “never prepared as much for a film as I did for Gladiator II.” “And it didn’t matter, I still got my ass kicked,” he said in an interview with AlloCiné. “I will never be the same after this. Don’t do this kind of thing at my age.“

He described the duel as a “physical language” scene where all communication was through the body. The hardest part was having to take hits without giving them back. “I rehearsed this fight more than anything else,” he added.

Regarding the animal fight scenes, particularly the one with baboons, Paul Mescal explained to Variety that real trained stunt performers played the monkeys on set. The rhinoceros was a life-size remote-controlled mechanical setup—later replaced by digital effects.

Comments collected by Thomas Desroches in London, on October 27, 2024.

“Gladiator II” by Ridley Scott is now showing in theaters.