Paul Mescal has a warning. “If you think you’re gonna get, like, an introverted intellectual, this isn’t the film for you.”

The Irish actor – internet favourite, proud wearer of short shorts, fan of leather kilts – is talking about Gladiator II, in which he plays Lucius, the lost prince of Rome, who is handy with a sword and can bite a baboon if required. But that’s what happens when you step into the world of director Ridley Scott and his brutal, bloodthirsty and highly entertaining vision for this year’s biggest blockbuster.

“I did not think I’d be fighting a baboon,” says Mescal. “I did not think that Ridley would be asking me to be in this film. Probably every single day on this set was something that I was never expecting to do in my career, full stop. So to get to do it, it’s just like, f---ing insane.”

Insane is right. Scott has not just delivered a swords and sandals epic that pays homage to the 2000 original, he’s thrown in bloody rhinos, a shark-infested Colosseum and a scenery-chewing Denzel Washington into the mix.

“It just requires you to get the bit between your teeth and go for it,” says Mescal (to be clear, he doesn’t bite an actual baboon, the only real monkey sits on co-star Fred Hechinger’s shoulder).

Mescal was in Sydney for the film’s premiere last week with Hechinger, who plays Emperor Caracalla, one-half of Rome’s terrible ruling twins, and Connie Nielsen, who returns to play Lucilla, mother of Lucius.

With the jet lag still hovering, Mescal and Hechinger are at the Park Hyatt, where I’ve shamelessly brought them each a bag of Violet Crumbles as a Halloween treat to butter them up.

“These are Australia’s Crunchies,” Mescal – correctly – tells Hechinger, before ripping the bag open.

It’s also a few days after Mescal appeared on The Graham Norton Show, where a lighthearted comment about using a phone in self-defence was turned into a viral moment by fellow Irish actor Saoirse Ronan, who said that was the type of thing “girls had to think about all the time”. Ronan has since been praised for highlighting the issue of women’s safety.

“I’ve known Saoirse for four years now, and she is one of my dearest friends,” says Mescal. “And as long as I’ve known her, she’s probably been the smartest person in the room. And for her to be able to make that point so elegantly, I just fundamentally agree with it.

“I’m glad that she’s drawn attention to the larger context of the conversation in terms of what preceded it. But fundamentally, her point is totally and utterly correct.”

It’s a good-guy response and typical of Mescal’s public profile ever since he broke out in the 2020 TV series Normal People, where he delivered a quietly devastating performance as university student Connell. A few indie films followed, as well as an Oscar nomination for Aftersun (again, quietly devastating) and a Bafta nomination for All of Us Strangers (also QD).

Gladiator II is his first blockbuster, where he leads a cast of up-and-coming actors – including Hechinger, who broke out in the first series of The White Lotus and was terrific in this year’s comedy Thelma – going toe to toe with Washington, who plays a slippery arms dealer.

“I’m under no illusion this is a massive, massive film,” says Mescal. “And it’s a huge step in a direction, in terms of it being super public facing, all of those things. I’m super excited to be doing this for the next four weeks, but it pales in comparison to the excitement of going back into a rehearsal room.

“I hope this is a raving success, but I can’t wait to get back to work. So I’ll deal with the kind of fallout or not, of what it means [to be in a big movie], but I don’t have a reference point for a film of this scale. Like, I know what it’s like to promote an independent film, and I know what it’s like to do all those things. But I’m in Sydney with one of my best friends, we’re in a massive f-ing movie, and it’s not lost on us to be present and actively try and celebrate it where possible, amongst the madness.”

Surely, now is the time to yell out, in tribute to Russell Crowe, “Are you not entertained?”

“No,” he says, laughing. “I’m glad that wasn’t in the script.”

What he did do, however, much like Crowe, was go low, burying his Irish accent in the standard deep-voiced growl of a blockbuster hero.

“I did want the voice to be low because I hate the sound of my own voice,” says Mescal. “That’s the wonderful gift of getting to act, you get to escape from the things that you don’t necessarily like about yourself.”

Gladiator II comes 24 years after Crowe cemented his place in film history as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the former Roman general turned gladiator who fought his way to glory at Rome’s Colosseum. The role landed Crowe the best actor Oscar in 2001, with the film also crowned best picture.

The sequel picks up 16 years after the original, with Mescal a mysterious fighter with vengeance on his mind. Hechingher’s Caracalla rules Rome with his brother Geta, but their erratic behaviour has caused rumblings of discontent.

“Rome’s a lot worse off,” says Hechinger. “If you thought it was bad last time, things have really taken a turn. The nature of Rome, at this point, at the end of this empire, is further complicated. It’s not as simple as two forces fighting, it’s actually this network of insanity and insidiousness and political corruption. And there’s all these different political gamblers … [and] it’s hard to get a handle on who’s going to pull through and what the game even is at first.”

Much like the original, Mescal’s gladiator at first appears to be a mere pawn, traded for another’s gain, but it was Lucius’ motivation that drew in Mescal.

“What you’re dealing with is somebody whose space between thought and action are super fast, it’s a survival mechanism,” says Mescal. “There’s a lot of subtextual elements to what we see in terms of the broad stroke of Lucius being this warrior, fighter and vicious individual. But it’s all motivated by a very pure human being who’s been corrupted by something that he hates more. His relationship to the Roman Empire, actually, is the most interesting part for me because there’s something political about his actions. But it’s not overtly political. There’s a latent socialist in Lucius that I find interesting.”

Gladiator II was partly shot in Malta, where a replica of the Colosseum was built in the same spot as the one used in the original film, except this new one was 25 per cent bigger. For the naval battle scenes – yes, a real thing that happened in ancient Rome, although Scott has admitted the sharks are a flourish – a tank the size of a football field was built.

For all this detail though – as well as the months of training to not only build a gladiatorial physique, but also being able to fight in the battles and ride horses and catch swords – there was one thing on Mescal’s mind as he ran up the stairs to enter the arena for the first time.

“Don’t trip. Don’t trip,” he says. “The only kind of regret that I have about the job is that [Scott] works at such a speed that I can’t really remember active detail. Like, I wish I was journaling more at the time, but you’re working at such a kinetic energy, which is the best way to work because it caters to all of my lack of patience.

“So, if I’m being honest, I don’t remember exactly what I was feeling when I walked into the Colosseum for the first time, but I remember the feeling of the last shot in the film, for example, is one that I remember quite clearly. It was after the [actors’] strike, and to be alone in that space felt religious almost.

“There’s very few actors who’ve ever got to be in this space alone, and that place is so symbolic. I was like, ‘This is a sacred space in the world of film, and I’m here on my own and paying homage to a very famous performance that’s gone before me.’”

As for Hechinger, he was able to sit high above the action, in the balcony, deciding who lived or died with the turn of a thumb.

“So luckily, luxuriously, comfortably looking at it, with Pedro [Pascal, who plays a Roman general] sweating away,” says Hechinger. “It was like the courtside of Rome. You’re sitting next to Connie and Denzel and you’re beginning to feel the shape of this society.

“And the other thing that’s highly unusual and incredibly extraordinary about how Ridley works is he’s not breaking up the action. So the entire event of this scene is occurring continuously. Any other director might have the box be some separate place that you shoot on a stage, and then later he [films] Paul fighting with the baboon, but [Ridley] is truly opposed to filming that way, in his bones. He’s like, ‘That’s ridiculous.’”

Mescal nods: “You’re just locked into this f---ing train that Ridley sets going, and he turns it up to 100 straight away.”

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Gladiator II is, thrillingly, built for the big screen, with its stars, performances, epic set pieces and, yes, sharks and baboons. With so many films disappearing down the rabbit hole that is streaming, do Mescal and Hechinger feel a responsibility to the survival of big-screen cinema?

The both agree.

“Ridley spoke elegantly the other day, and made a point that I actually agree with, where platforms are useful because they give people access,” says Mescal. “But if we don’t celebrate the big film experience, nobody will have an attachment to the films that are coming out.

“I don’t remember, really, any experiences watching something on a streaming platform that have changed my life. I’ve seen films that I’ve loved, but going into a dark room with friends or by yourself and watching something is the reason I’m doing this job today. So I have no shame in saying that the big screen experience is under pressure and needs to be protected, where possible.

“I just don’t think there’s any version of an audience that is going to go into this film and not be entertained, or find it insane, or be moved by it. The best way to see this film is not waiting for it to be on a streamer, it’s to see it on the biggest screen that you possibly can. It’s massively important to me.”

It might not be “Are you not entertained”, but it’s close enough.

Gladiator II is released in cinemas on November 14.

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