Paul Mescal, king of our hearts and normal person has gone viral online after his personal trainer shared a video of him getting super buff for the upcoming Gladiator sequel. If you weren’t a Mescal stan before, you’re about to be.
Mescal, who infamously doesn’t have a social media presence (probably for the best, king) has still somehow managed to have everyone online talking about him.
The actor is currently doing one of those classic Hollywood super transformation workouts in preparation for the Gladiator sequel, which also stars Pedro Pascal and will undoubtedly flood my basement.
Mescal will be playing the grown-up nephew of Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), but the plot is still a mystery.
Here’s the workout clip that has everyone in a tizzy:
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mescal said he wasn’t interested in talking about his transformation when it comes to this movie, but he’s still dedicated to doing it as that’s what the role requires.
I mean, if a studio was PAYING me to get ripped, I would absolutely oblige.
“This guy’s got to fight and got to be a beast. And whatever that looks and feels like is right for me, is what it’s going to be,” he said in the interview.
“Sometimes I see films and I’m like, ‘That person doesn’t look real.’”
“With films like this and superhero films, there is sometimes a focus on that, which I don’t find that interesting,” he continued.
“Of course, there’s a physical robustness required for the character, but past that, I’m not interested.”
I can see what the man is saying. When he’s doing press tours for this Gladiator sequel, the last thing he needs is boring “how did you get so buff?” questions.
In an interview with Collider, former Gladiator star Russell Crowe expressed his discontent with not being in the movie’s sequel.
Sorry mate, we’ve gone and replaced you with fresh blood. Take it up with director Ridley Scott.
“I’m sure that [there have] been things on [Scott’s] mind for the last 24 years that he thinks he can probably do better,” he said.
“He’s going to want to go back into that world and create something [on] the same level of spectacle as the first one.”
I’m keen to see if this is the end of Paul Mescal’s fitness journey or if he’s going to be even MORE buff in the Gladiator sequel. All I know is I am going to literally collapse once the on-set pics of him with Pedro Pascal are released.
