Paul Mescal ran away to dressing room rather than meet Denzel Washington: “I bailed out”

"I stood there for a couple of minutes, and I said, 'Not today'"

Paul Mescal has revealed he initially “bailed” at meeting Denzel Washington for the first time because he was so nervous.

The two actors are appearing together in upcoming sequel Gladiator II, which follows on from the 2000 hit and sees Mescal play Lucius, the son of Maximus, while Washington portrays Macrinus.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show last week, Mescal opened up about introducing himself to Washington on set for the first time.

“The first day that I was actually working with Denzel, he was up in the box, and I was rolling around fighting some monkeys or something,” he recalled. “At the end of the day, I was like, ‘I must go up and introduce myself to Denzel.’

“I was stood at the bottom of the steps, and I stood there for a couple of minutes, and I said, ‘Not today’. So I bailed out and I ran to my dressing room, I was like, ‘Tomorrow I’m going to be a brave boy.’

“The second day, I waited at the bottom of the stairs, and I was like, ‘Just gotta stay put’. And Denzel walks down, and it was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go.’ And he shook my hand, and it just felt extraordinary.”

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Mescal then revealed Washington’s response: “He looked at me for ages, and he goes, ‘Stop workin’ out, man’.”

During the interview, Mescal also explained that he landed the role in the movie after a 30-minute Zoom call with director Ridley Scott.

“Ridley does not waste time – I thought there would be camera tests and auditions, but we Zoomed for half an hour, spoke for 10minutess about the part and then 20 minutes about Gaelic football, his dog and his wife,” he said.

“I thought there would be more, but he called a few weeks later to offer me the part. I think he just goes by instinct on set and off and I’m very glad that’s the way it went.”

Gladiator II, which also stars Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn and Connie Nielsen (who returns as Lucilla from the first film), recently had its first screening, earning rave reactions from those in attendance.

Gladiator II will be released in cinemas on November 15 in the UK, and November 22 in the US.