Paul Mescal wasn’t all that eager to meet King Charles III at the Gladiator II premiere in London last week. Mescal, 28, was asked about his recent encounter with the British monarch while speaking to Variety at a Gladiator event in Los Angeles on Monday, November 18. “Never met the king [before that night],” the actor said, per a video posted by the outlet on X.
“It’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards. I’m, like, Irish, so it’s not kind of on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley [ Scott ] because I know how important that is for him.
So to see his film celebrated in that context was pretty special.” On Wednesday, November 13, Charles and Mescal cordially greeted each other at the Odeon Lux theater in Leicester Square, where the actor joined Gladiator II costars Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington , as well as Scott, their director, in the receiving line. (The following day, Charles, who’s battling cancer , turned 76 years old.
) Mescal described the Royal meet-and-great to Variety , saying, “I found it kind of hard to hear exactly what [Charles] was saying ...
so you’re just kind of nodding along and, just, smiling.” Gladiator II hits theaters Friday, November 22. It’s set over two decades after the events of the original blockbuster starring Russell Crowe , and Mescal plays Lucius Verus, the son of Crowe’s character, Maximus; he’s forced into slavery and becomes a gladiator to earn his freedo.