Gladiator 2’s release date approaches this November and the sequel that we never thought we’d see, but that Ridley Scott has wanted to make for years will finally be here. Paul Mescal leads the Gladiator 2 cast as Lucius, a grown-up version of a character we saw as a boy in the first film, but some have wondered why the movie didn’t simply bring back the actor who played the role the first time around.
Ridley Scott has explained at least some of the reasons behind his decision to cast Paul Mescal, and in doing so, he does sort of explain why he didn’t decide to cast Spencer Treat Clark, who played the role as a kid. Talking to Deadline, Scott discussed the decision of who to focus the sequel around, because it didn’t have to be Lucius at all. Scott explained…
Well, the survivor could be Connie, Marcus’ daughter, but what’s even more interesting, and therefore a double whammy, there’s the son. Whatever happened to him? It became about that, and that’s Paul Mescal. It’s 20 years on. That was harder than casting Russell as Maximus, that was more obvious.
But once deciding on Lucius as the story’s protagonist, why did Scott decide to cast Mescal and and not Clark? The reason was a combination of chance and math.
Why Ridley Scott Chose Paul Mescal For The Lead Of Gladiator 2
The reason Ridley Scott chose Paul Mescal to lead Gladiator 2 was apparently due to the director’s decision to do something he apparently doesn’t often do: watch television. He said he wanted a young actor, potentially somebody audiences weren’t that familiar with, and he happened to catch Mescal in the miniseries Normal People. The director was quite impressed. He said…
I’m always looking for someone, something new and fresh. I mean, fresh is terribly important. So they’re not carrying … baggage is a terrible word for what they’ve done before, because it’s great stuff, but you will remember he just did this character already. I watched this show called Normal People. It’s unusual for me, but I saw one and thought, that’s interesting. These actors are really good I watched the whole goddamn show and thought, damn.
So that explains why Ridley Scott chose Paul Mescal, but it doesn’t explain why he went looking for a new actor in the first place. That explanation, however, may be far simpler than we thought.
Why Gladiator’s Original Lucius Wasn’t The Right Choice
Spencer Trent Clark has already reprised a major role as an adult that he first had as a child, playing the role of Joseph Dunn in Glass, M. Night Shyamalan’s sequel to Unbreakable. However, he wasn’t given the call to play an adult Lucius. In this case, the reason appears to be that the timeline doesn’t work. Clark is 36 years old, significantly older than Paul Mescal who was even younger when the casting process started. Scott continued…
So this came up at a time when I need a 23 year old, 24 year old to take up the mantle of Lucius. And I just said, you want to do it? He said, yeah. He was about to do Streetcar Named Desire in London.
It certainly would have been nice to see the actor who played Lucius as a child return for the adult role, but sometimes these things don’t work out. Hopefully, Gladiator 2 is a great movie regardless.