The Ridley Scott epic demanded more of both actors physically than they’d ever experienced before.
So much so that both stars separately toldEntertainment Weeklyit was the most physically demanding shoot they’d ever experienced.
But the weather and shooting schedule was a different beast entirely.
Paul Mescal (L) and Pedro Pascal in ‘Gladiator’.Paramount
“It was brutal, the fight.
I was borderline throwing up, irritable, just hardcore.
Between takes, I was firing ice straight down my back.”
Pedro Pascal (L) and Paul Mescal photographed exclusively for EW.Charlotte Ellis
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“I’m getting up there, or I’m not getting up there; Iamup there.
I’m looking down from up there,” Pascal, 49, jokes.
“And a lot of work has been really physical, and it really kind of takes its toll.
And so I would say that the action [was the hardest part of making the film].”
Elder abuse, we call it."
For Mescal, all the hard work and ass-kicking was absolutely worth it.
“The fights aren’t like slick swordplay.
you might feel towards the end what Lucius says it’s about survival.
It’s like your body’s going to accumulate all this punishment.
And it’s about holding onto that as the film progresses.
So I’m proud of them all in different ways.”
Read more on the making of the film inEW’sGladiator IIcover story.
