Actor Paul Mescal has spoken highly of Pedro Pascal's physical prowess as both are going to share screen space in "Gladiator II." "I think I'd win in a fight between me and Pedro, but he's deceptive," said Mescal in an interview with Empire. He added: "Pedro is one of the funniest men that I know…. There's a beast in there for sure.
His comments are similar in nature to those of Pascal, who in an earlier interview with Vanity Fair, said he came to refer to his co-star as "Brick Wall Paul," reports deadline.com.
"He got so robust," remembered the actor.
"I would rather be thrown from a building than have to fight him again. To go up against somebody that fit and that talented and that much younger…. "
Filmmaker Ridley Scott termed the film as "full-bore, brutal action" and, "the best thing I've ever made," deadline.com reports.
Comments from Mescal on the film weren't his first. Previously, he tried to manifest a new version of Barbenheimer between Gladiator II and Wicked. Both open on November 22.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Mescal explained: "Wickdiator doesn't really roll off the tongue does it? I think my preference would probably be Glicked if it has a similar effect to what it did for 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer."
"That would be really great, 'cause I think the movies couldn't be more different, and it worked in that regard last time. So fingers crossed people come out and see both movies opening weekend."
Mescal will be playing Lucius — the son of Lucilla, nephew to Commodus, and grandson of the murdered Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius — in Scott's sequel to his Oscar-winning 2000 historical epic Gladiator. Pascal is Marcus Acacius, a Roman general pitted against Lucius in combat in the Colosseum, with Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger among others in the cast.
Read also| Denzel Washington Hints at Retirement After 'Gladiator II'
