Paul Mescal shares nerves meeting Denzel Washington on “Gladiator II” set

• Washington jokingly told Mescal to stop going to the gym, which made the moment feel extraordinary.
• Washington praised Mescal’s talent and performance in the lead role.
• Mescal expresses his excitement about working with Washington and Ridley Scott on the project.

Paul Mescal recently shared the panic he felt when he first attempted to introduce himself to Denzel Washington on the “Gladiator II” set. Appearing on “The Graham Norton Show”, he described his excitement as he approached the Oscar winner—only to hesitate and back away at the last moment.

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

Feeling fearless about introducing himself by the end of the day, Mescal made it to the stairs, but nerves quickly took over, and he backed out. He returned to his dressing room, vowing to be more courageous the next day.

He hilariously admitted, “I stood there for a couple of minutes, and I said, ‘Not today’. So I bailed out, and I ran to my dressing room — like, ‘Tomorrow I’m going to be a brave boy.'”

The following day, Mescal resolved to wait at the base of the staircase for Washington to come down. Despite the tension and nerves, Washington lightened the moment by jokingly telling Mescal to stop going to the gym.

He said, “Denzel walks down, and it was like, ‘Oh, God, here we go.’ And he shook my hand, and it just felt extraordinary. He looked at me for ages, and he goes, ‘Stop workin’ out, man.'”

Washington praised his co-worker, stating that Mescal was talented and performed just as well as Russell Crowe in the lead role of “Gladiator”. In an interview with *Entertainment Weekly*, Mescal expressed that working with Washington and Ridley Scott on this ambitious project was mesmerizing for him.

However, he is optimistic that much more will come after “Gladiator II”. He mentioned that he has more goals to achieve and does not wish to rest after this movie. “Gladiator II”, starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Connie Nielsen, will hit theaters on November 22.

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