"Bad guys have all the fun," says Denzel Washington, who has gone bad for Ridley Scott's Gladiator II and deliberately avoided viewing the first Russell Crowe-starrer as he didn't want to get attached to it.
Macrinus, a former slave turned wealthy, cunning arms dealer, is the character essayed by the veteran Hollywood star in the sequel of the blockbuster 2000 original.
"I didn't go back to watch the first film. I didn't want to be connected to that. I watched the first film years ago. So I didn't want to look at it," Washington told PTI in a virtual interview from London.
In Gladiator II, Scott brings back the epic gladiatorial battles made famous in Gladiator, the classic that bagged five Oscars, including for best picture and best actor for Crowe.
Washington, 69, has already collaborated with Scott in the director's 2007 American Gangster where he also starred opposite Crowe.
"Ridley Scott first, last and always," he said.
"He called and I said yes. He's one of my favorite if not my favorite directors that I work with.he and his brother. But when he called, I said yes. It's as simple as that," he added.
Did he have a blast playing the bad guy again, following his Oscar-winning role in *Training Day*, in which he plays a corrupt narcotics officer? "Absolutely," Washington said. "You know bad guys have all the fun, until the end."
*Gladiator II* also stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger along with Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi, reprising their roles from the first part.
While Gladiator was focused mostly on Maximus, the sequel is happening decades later and is rather a film about Mescal's Lucius, that being the son of Maximus and Lucilla.
Lucius is exiled when young, and the Roman empire invades his home. He turns gladiator at the Colosseum, with hopes that he will one day avenge his family's death. Washington's role as Macrinus has him playing a gladiator 'owner' who views Lucius as a key instrument in his plans to overthrow Rome's young emperor twins Caracalla and Geta.
Washington, who won his first Oscar for a best supporting actor trophy as an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory, said he didn't discuss much about his character with Scott before working on the movie.
"He kind of leaves me alone and I kind of do my own thing. This film was just so huge. He's got 10-15 million things going on at the same time. So, he kind of left me alone to my own devices and that was that," Washington said.
He was a regular collaborator of the late Tony Scott on films like Crimson Tide, Man on Fire, The Taking of Pelham 123 and Unstoppable.
Washington heaped fulsome praise on Mescal, who took a giant leap in his career with Gladiator II after his breakout role in the series Normal People and the Oscar-nominated role in the independent movie Aftersun.
"He, Fred, those guys are the future, to put that on. And Russell certainly did a wonderful job many years ago, and this young boy, really, he does it. I'm happy for him and proud of him," said Washington.
One of the most celebrated actors of his generation, Washington has given memorable performances in films like Cry Freedom, Philadelphia, Remember the Titans and The Tragedy of Macbeth as well as the three Equalizer movies.
He admitted, however, that he wouldn't describe himself as a "big movie person" at this point in his life.
Washington also fondly recalls his experience working on Mira Nair's 1991 romance drama movie Mississippi Masala.
"We had a great time together. that was a while ago. I don't remember everything, but we had a great time together," he said of the film, which explored the interracial romance between an Indian American girl, played by Sarita Choudhury, and an African American man.
Asked what his criteria is for choosing a project at this stage in life, Washington said, "Filmmaker and script. had some really interesting conversations with some great filmmakers. can't talk about it right now, but there's some good opportunities for me in the next couple of years."
Gladiator II will arrive in India on 15 November, 4DX and IMAX formats, in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, from the stables of Paramount Pictures India.
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