Gladiator director Ridley Scott says he had to persuade Joaquin Phoenix to stay on the first movie, after the Joker star threatened to quit. Phoenix, 50, played the corrupt Roman emperor Commodus in the first film, and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Scott told The New York Times: "[Joaquin] was in his prince's outfit saying, 'I can't do it' - I said, 'What?' And Russell [Crowe] said, 'This is terribly unprofessional'.
" The 86-year-old filmmaker said he used his closeness to Phoenix to persuade him to stay on. "I can act as a big brother or dad. But I'm quite a friend of Joaquin's.
Gladiator was a baptism of fire for both of us in the beginning," he said. Scott and Phoenix also worked together in 2023 on historical movie Napoleon, in which Phoenix starred as the capricious French general . More on Paul Mescal BBC defends 'misjudged' Saltburn BAFTA red carpet question to Andrew Scott BAFTAs 2024 fashion: All the celeb outfits from the red carpet Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal on toxic masculinity: 'The most macho man will be the first to break' Related Topics: Paul Mescal Ridley Scott Russell Crowe Gladiator II picks up 20 years after the original film, which picked up four Oscars.
It marks Paul Mescal 's first big studio movie, playing Roman warrior Lucius Verus , who is also Maximus's secret son, and a child character in the original movie. Mescal has previously said Scott offered him the role after an informal meeting of around half-an-hour. Russell Crowe: 'A .