Gladiator II’s returning star ‘astonished’ by role in sequel after 24 years

Gladiator II’s main returning prima Connie Nielsen has revealed that what was written for her quality successful the sequel near her ‘wide-eyed’ and with her jaw connected the floor.

The Danish actress, 59, played Lucilla, girl of emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) successful the archetypal Gladiator movie from 24 years ago, who is shockingly killed by his ain lad Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).

Harbouring a transportation with Russell Crowe’s Maximus, who dies successful her arms successful the gladiatorial arena of the Colosseum astatine the extremity of that movie, the long-suspected instrumentality mentation that her lad Lucius is besides his was confirmed successful the trailer for Gladiator II.

But with Lucius (Paul Mescal) sent distant for his information backmost past and Rome present nether the regularisation of debauched co-emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), and scheming arms trader and gladiator proprietor Macrinus (Denzel Washington) chasing power, her presumption is much precarious than it erstwhile was – particularly erstwhile Lucius returns arsenic an enslaved gladiator aft his location successful Numidia was conquered by Rome.

A sequel to Gladiator has been connected director Sir Ridley Scott’s caput for years, but the archetypal Nielsen knew of it truly happening was erstwhile the communicative from David Scarpa and Peter Craig was yet selected by him.

‘They yet figured retired what they exactly wanted the communicative to be. Ridley did batch of antithetic iterations until helium happened upon the 1 that helium truly loved and that’s erstwhile they contacted maine to inquire if I would beryllium consenting to travel backmost and reprise Lucilla,’ she tells Metro ahead of the film’s planetary premiere successful London.

Nielsen is successful information not the lone returner to a formed that also includes Pedro Pascal, arsenic renowned British thespian Sir Derek Jacobi, 86, is besides backmost arsenic Senator Gracchus.

However, her portion this clip seems adjacent much crucial, fixed her transportation to Pascal’s General Marcus Acacius, who commanded his troops to slaughter warriors during the seizure of Numidia – including Lucius’s wife. He is besides Lucilla’s husband, which creates an adjacent much intolerable script for her.

‘I honestly could not person imagined the unthinkable crippled points that she would beryllium astatine the centre of,’ shares Nielsen erstwhile discussing what her hopes were for her character’s return.

‘I truly was conscionable wholly – conscionable wide eyed, open, conscionable astonished arsenic I was speechmaking the script,’ she adds of Lucilla’s divided loyalties, alongside her ambition to reconstruct Rome to its erstwhile stability.

‘I was conscionable truthful looking guardant to doing immoderate of these scenes – precise heartbreaking arsenic well,’ she adds successful what is zero overstatement.

She laughs a ‘thank you’ erstwhile it’s suggested she’s the concealed limb of Gladiator, fixed Lucilla’s value successful some films.

But she was besides capable to motion disconnected immoderate worries astir coming backmost to reprise a relation she had not played successful astir a 4th of a century, claiming to not consciousness ‘any pressure’ astir returning and connecting with Lucilla.

‘I truly felt it was specified an integrated and earthy experience. I felt her, decidedly – I remembered the feeling wrong of me, of her, and uncovering her again was truthful elemental and truthful easy.’

The Wonder Woman prima besides highlights however beauteous it was to descend her teeth into ‘the unthinkable challenges she brought with her and that she had the discourse of what she had seen implicit the past 18 years’.

‘That was truthful inspiring to benignant of physique that into the character, imagining however the girl of Marcus Aurelius would person felt watching the implicit descent into madness of a state that had, astatine her father’s time, been astatine its precise apex.’

Looking to the caller procreation of Gladiator endowment and Nielsen is afloat of praise for her 28-year-old onscreen lad Mescal, who is ‘such a fantastic actor, conscionable perfectly brilliant’.

‘I was looking precise overmuch guardant to doing scenes with him,’ she said of the Oscar nominee. ‘And erstwhile we did get to the scenes, it was truly truthful peculiar to spell successful determination and I could conscionable consciousness that they were going to beryllium precise strong.’

As idiosyncratic successful the antithetic presumption of making a follow-up movie implicit 2 decades aft the archetypal one, and adjacent returning to Malta for the sprout and acting successful a replica Colosseum rebuilt successful the aforesaid determination – Fort Ricasoli – arsenic before, Nielsen indispensable besides person been struck by however overmuch had changed successful the moviemaking process during the intervening years.

But for her, it besides meant she was successful information of losing 1 of her favourite aspects of shooting a film, and portion of her process with Alien and Blade Runner’s Sir Ridley.

‘He’s specified a collaborative director, and it’s specified a pleasance for an histrion to really person each these conversations with him astir wherever the quality should go,’ she recalls. ‘And backmost successful the day, it took sometimes hours to determination each of those cameras astir and person the caller camera rolls enactment connected – and the small mag had to beryllium checked and the aerial had to beryllium thrown into the premix successful bid to marque definite determination were nary small bits implicit the film…’

However, with the advances successful technology, it ‘now it takes nary clip astatine all’, meaning ‘so overmuch little clip to beryllium determination and person each of these astonishing conversations with Ridley’, she laments.

But Nielsen had a saccharine mode of making definite she didn’t person to miss retired connected this invaluable portion of the acquisition with the storied 86-year-old director.

‘I conscionable made up my caput that I would bash it successful the greeting instead! And so, each morning, I would popular myself extracurricular his doorway and look guardant to america talking astir the scenes and wherever we wanted to spell with it,’ the histrion smiles.

‘And that way, erstwhile we were connected set, we were ready, due to the fact that the acceptable was ever acceptable for us.’

Gladiator is successful UK cinemas from today. It volition beryllium released successful the US connected Friday, November 22.

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