Ridley Scott is opening up about his relationship with Russell Crowe ahead of Gladiator II’s premiere in theaters later this year.
Crowe starred in the 2000 film directed by Scott, in which he played Maximus Decimus Meridius. The actor, who won an Oscar in 2001 for his role in the Scott film, is not part of the sequel because his character tragically dies in the end.
“The plot, frankly, was right under our noses,” Scott told Empire magazine about Gladiator II. “I think it was so close under our noses that we thought it was too simple.”
He continued, “I think [Crowe is] still one of the best actors in the world, and I think we have a good relationship. I hope we do. As long as he doesn’t start bitching about how he wasn’t consulted. Why would I? He’s dead!”
Crowe has been open with his sentiments over the Gladiator sequel and recently commented on the film.
“I’m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they’re making another one — because, of course, I’m dead and I have no say in what gets done,” Crowe said on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast. “But a couple of the things I’ve heard I’m like — no, no, no, that’s not in the moral journey of that particular character. But I can’t say anything, it’s not my place, I’m six foot under. So we’ll see what that is like.”
He continued, “It does, in a funny way — I reflect back: the age I was when I made that film and all the things that came after it, the doors that particular movie opened for me. This is just me being purely honest: there’s definitely a tinge of melancholy, a tinge of jealousy.” He then quipped, “I remember when I had tendons.”
In an interview in 2023, Crowe admitted he was “slightly jealous” he was not part of the sequel.
“The only thing that I really feel about it is slightly jealous, you know? Because I was a much younger man, obviously, and it was a huge experience in my life,” he told Collider. “It’s something that changed my life, really. It changed the way people regarded me and what I do for a living, and, you know, I’ve been very lucky to be involved in lots of big movies, but the legs on that film are incredible.”
The Gladiator sequel is set years after the original film and has Mescal taking over the role of Lucius that Spencer Treat Clark portrayed in the 2000 movie. In the follow-up, Mescal plays the role of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and the nephew of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).
Gladiator II is set to premiere on November 22 in the U.S., and it stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington, among others.
