Irish star Paul Mescal on meeting the King: It was not on the list of priorities

By Naomi Clarke, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Irish star Paul Mescal has said meeting the King at the Gladiator II world premiere was not on his “list of priorities”.

The 28-year-old actor, who portrays a grown-up Lucius in Sir Ridley Scott’s new historical epic, was introduced to Charles at the star-studded event in central London last week.

Gladiator II is set years after the Oscar-winning 2000 film, which starred Russell Crowe as Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Speaking to US outlet Variety on the red carpet of the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday, Mescal reflected on his experience of meeting the King.

He said: “How wild is it? It’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards.

“I’m Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley because I know how important that is for him.

“So to see his film celebrated in that context was pretty special.”

Recalling his encounter with the royal, he admitted he found it hard to hear what was being said amid the excitement of the premiere so he was “nodding along and smiling”.

The film’s world premiere in London was held in aid of the Film and TV Charity, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and marked the first premiere Charles attended as King.

The royal also met with Mescal’s co-stars including Oscar-winner Denzel Washington and Narcos star Pedro Pascal.

The second film tells the story of Lucius Verus, who originally appeared in the film as a child and is now played by Mescal.

Lucius escaped capture after the fall of Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix in the original movie, and joined the fight against the Roman Empire’s expansion.

In the fight to defend his wife, Lucius is captured and placed into slavery by the forces of Marcus Acacius (Pascal) and subsequently becomes a gladiator after being bought by Macrinus (Washington), and seeks revenge.

At the premiere, Mescal told the PA news agency he would “absolutely love” to do a third Gladiator film after director Sir Ridley teased that he could be looking to do a follow-up.