Paul Mescal Says Going From Starring In Denny Sausages Ad To Gladiator II Is 'Absolutely Bananas'

From starring in a Dennys sausages advert as a teenager to being the lead in the Ridley Scott directed Gladiator sequel, Paul Mescal has described the trajectory as "absolutely bananas".

While he may have burst onto the scene as Connell Waldron in the TV adaption of Normal People, alongside Daisy Edgar Jones, Paul Mescal first appeared on the RTÉ TV screens as a teenager inspired to embark on world travel after his father tells him that the sons of Denny founder Henry Denny, travelled the world to teach people how to cure bacon.

Following Normal People, Paul Mescal later garnered an Oscar nomination for his role in Aftersun alongside Andrew Scott. 

Now, the official trailer of the much anticipated Gladiator sequel from Ridley Scott which also stars Mescal, has been released.

The Maynooth native revealed that his GAA background helped him to secure this role. 

"Whatever it took to get me over the line, look, I'm well used to kind of throwing myself around on the pitch and that was useful in the Colosseum in ancient Rome for sure", he said. 

The film sees Paul Mescal star as Lucius, son of Lucilla, in a sequel to the original 2000 epic, which starred Russell Crowe.

According to Mescal, the new film has "the same energy and spirit of the first one" as the movie "picks up the world in the first Gladiator and plants it 20 years in the future".

He continued: "But the character's journey through the mad world that is ancient Rome couldn't be more different". 

"I think it balances the kind of honouring of the first film but it's very much its own beast and very much is a beast of a film. It's very satisfying in that regard". 

"absolutely bananas"

Paul Mescal has admitted that the "hype" over this film is "new territory" adding that its "absolutely bananas". 

"I've seen the trailer, seen the film. I think, from my end, the hype is kind of warranted. I'm as big a fan of the first film as the next person", Mescal said. "It's just indicative of the legacy that this film has and Ridley Scott directing a second one, it's for people who love film, I think it's a no-brainer".

On the training that her underwent in preparation for this role, Paul Mescal explained: “I had to eat a lot. I put on about a stone, I had to lift a lot of heavy things and run around".

"I had a team of people around who were telling me to eat what when, run where, run how far, lift this heavy thing for x amount of times. When you’re talking about films of this scale you have a team of experts around you who support your entire process, so it was kind of a dream come true. There was no stone left unturned". 

"bingo cards"

The Normal People star also admitted that he did not envisage such a rise to fame, saying that he did not believe "this wasn't in the bingo cards". 

"I've said this many, many times, but I feel incredibly proud to be Irish. And going from sausage ads to this wasn't in the bingo cards for me", he said. 

"Me and Andrew Scott both spoke about this coming home to do the All of Us Strangers premiere last year", he added.  "I'm absolutely biased but I think we've got the most extraordinary country and people who are deeply supportive of the artists that we have". 

"We're, as a country, punching fire above our weight in terms of the output and long it may continue and it should be supported because we've got immense talent for such a small country".

"I definitely feel an overwhelming sense of support from people back home. I can't wait to take the film there, to be honest". 

Gladiator II will premiere on 15 November 2024.