Now entering the arena: Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal unsheathe “Gladiator II”

Mescal, Pascal, Ridley Scott, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger take EW inside the epic legacy sequel, in theaters Nov. 22.

“Mine honor is my life; both grow in one."

Although this sounds like a line out of Gladiator or its long-awaited sequel, the quote is from Shakespeare (Richard II, to be precise), and happens to be etched in gold on the ceiling of the stained-glass rotunda where Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal stand on the London set of their Entertainment Weekly cover shoot for Gladiator II in September.

Marble columns surround the room, which features a row of Roman busts and ornate mosaic flooring. It all feels distinctly Ancient Romanesque. (Aside from the tunes. Pascal is the day’s DJ, blaring classics including the Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" and the Meters' "Cissy Strut" from a speaker he procured from his dressing room.)

While the statues were curated for the shoot, the quote is pure coincidence — or, perhaps, fate. After all, it evokes the famous battle cry of Russell Crowe's Maximus in the original 2000 film — "Strength and honor!" — and is symbolic of Lucius' (Mescal) journey in its sequel nearly 25 years later.

Why did it take so long? "Frankly, we were all busy. So, honestly, no one really thought about it," director Ridley Scott says bluntly, seated at a long table in his Los Angeles office in late September.

Related: Gladiator II trailer reveals that Lucius is the son of Russell Crowe's Maximus after all

The first film — which followed former Roman general turned gladiator Maximus as he seeks vengeance against the corrupt emperor who slaughtered his family and sent him into slavery — was a massive success, accumulating more than $465 million worldwide and five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.

As time passed, Scott realized that the film continued aging well, and seemed "to have taken on a life of its own." So, the director felt, he owed it to "the number one to find out about a number two."

Over the years, attempts were made at a script for Gladiator II, but according to Scott, many "writers were afraid to take it on." Things finally took off when he brought in his Napoleon and All the Money in the World collaborator, David Scarpa, who didn't initially want to touch it. But, after gathering at the same table where Scott now sits, engaging in what the four-time Oscar nominee describes as "table tennis with words," an idea emerged. 

Given Maximus' death at the end of the first film, they decided the sequel would follow Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and grandson of the revered emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), who was just a boy (played by Spencer Treat Clark) in the 2000 movie. Scott says Lucius would have been in constant danger as the rightful heir to the Roman empire after the events of the first film, so for his protection, Lucilla made the agonizing decision to send him away to live in Numidia, far from Rome. He grew up there safely, under a new identity. When Roman forces led by General Marcus Acacius (Pascal) conquer Numidia, they take Lucius hostage. Resentful of Rome and his mother, he agrees to become a gladiator for the conniving Macrinus (Denzel Washington) in exchange for Acacius' head — but he finds much more than revenge waiting for him in the Colosseum.

Whoever they cast to play Lucius would have big sandals to fill. Landing Mescal — whose film credits are all indies, including Aftersun and All of Us Strangers, but is best known for starring opposite Twisters' Daisy Edgar-Jones in Hulu's adaptation of Normal People — came as a result of Scott needing a "bedtime story," required viewing before getting his minimum of seven hours of sleep.

At first, the 86-year-old didn't think he would like the romantic drama series, but after watching one episode, he was hooked. Reminding Scott of a young Harris, the director knew Mescal was his Lucius — doubters be damned. ("In my job, I've got constant doubting Thomases driving me f---ing crazy. But when you've done the Formula 1 car around the track so many times, I do know how to take those bends," says Scott.)

The project's scale, the largest in his career to date, didn't faze Mescal, who, like his character, was hungry for a challenge. "It's a weird thing," he tells EW from his parents' home in Dublin, where he's stopping in for a visit a few weeks after the photo shoot. "It obviously feels like a massive step in a totally different direction to what I've done for the last, say, five years since Normal People came out." While he acknowledges some imposter syndrome entering this "uncharted territory," he says his anxiety would be "through the roof" if he didn't feel capable of pulling it off. "When it came my way, I felt like I was right for it, and as ready as you could be for doing something on a bigger scale," he says. "I had an appetite for it."

Indeed, Mescal, 28, "was super keen to jump into that world" and immerse himself in becoming a gladiator. For the better part of six months, he did strength training, fight choreography, horse training, and sword fighting before he stepped into the arena.

All the hard work paid off. "I loved how distinct the fights are from each other, and what I'm really proud of is how you can feel the accumulation of the violence on his body as the film progresses," Mescal says. "The fights aren't like slick swordplay. You can feel towards the end what Lucius says — it's about survival. It's like your body's going to accumulate all this punishment. And it's about holding onto that as the film progresses."

It's not a spoiler that Lucius has the most battles of anyone in the film, several of which have been teased in the trailers so far. What is a spoiler, though, is Mescal's favorite contest. "The final fight, which we're not going to talk about," he says with a wink. The most challenging, however, involves a rhinoceros, and he's much more verbose about that experience.

The rhino itself wasn't the issue — it was created via 3-D printer and controlled by radio remote. But the weather in the Colosseum was not as easy to master. The sandy floor of the battleground was scorching hot, particularly on the days they filmed this battle.

"We shot that for about two or three days, but the heat was just…. My Irish blood does not function with Ridley's shooting schedule, which is like sun up to sun down, hottest parts of the day," Mescal says with a laugh. "It was brutal, the fight. I grew up playing sports, so I would consider myself pretty robust and happy to throw myself around, but it was just the [arena] itself became like a radiator. I was borderline throwing up, irritable, just hardcore. Between takes I was firing ice straight down my back."

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Another person who sees some action in the famous amphitheater is Pascal's Acacius. Like Mescal, Pascal went through intense gladiator training. "Wait until I release the videos," Pascal adds of filming some of Gladiator II's most epic action sequences, speaking with EW on the phone as he heads to set for another stunt-heavy movie, next summer's The Fantastic Four: First Steps. "There were just so many incredible stuntmen in this one area where we would learn our choreography and major sequences that were being choreographed in this warehouse, and you would hear this cacophonous roar of men going into battle," he continues. "I couldn't compose it into an expectation that I would have previous to getting there, if that makes any sense. It was so fulfilling in terms of what the energy of the movie was going to be."

Pascal grew up watching Scott's films, which he says "set the standard for me in terms of a moviegoing experience." The Last of Us star says working with the director was "the most exciting" but also the "most physical" project of his career. "I'm getting up there — or, I'm not getting up there, I am up there," jokes the 49-year-old. "A lot of work has been really physical, and I love that, but it was more challenging than it's ever been for me."

A challenge, no doubt — but it also gives Pascal something special to brag about: "The distinguishing and incomparable aspect of the whole experience would be getting my ass kicked by Paul Mescal. Elder abuse, we call it."

Related: Connie Nielsen breaks down her emotional return to the Colosseum in 'insane' Gladiator II

Back at the London shoot, there's no hint of this alleged "abuse." In fact, the two can't stop goofing off — doing trust falls, dancing to Pascal's playlist, and having staring contests with the statues. At one point, though, Mescal turns from silly to sentimental, patting Pascal's arm as he says, "I've missed you. It's so good to see you."

The stars have picked up right where they left off on set, fast friends despite playing enemies — which led to plenty of unexpected moments while filming. "There was a moment when we were rehearsing my fight scene with Pedro, and I had an idea towards the end of the scene to kiss Pedro on the forehead," recalls Mescal. "I did it in one of the takes, and then we're getting the radio messages back to Ridley [in video village], and I was like, 'Ridley: Kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yay or nay?' There was radio silence for a second. His radio crackles back, and [Ridley] goes, 'I'm afraid I did.'" Mescal cracks up as he recounts the memory, which didn't make it into the final cut. "I think Ridley's one of the funniest men I've ever come across."

Pascal's favorite flub involves the first time the audience and Lucius meet Acacius, when his army invades Numidia. "I was running off the drawbridge, and they kind of dressed it with some dust so that when it slams against the fortified wall, there's a big puff of smoke, of dust. And I'm charging off the drawbridge and jumping over the wall, and I slip," Pascal says. "I literally bounce off the drawbridge on my ass and land splat in front of Paul's feet on the first take." Invoking the iconic Gladiator line, he recalls asking his costar, "Are you not entertained?"

It's hard not to be entertained by the sequel, which is somehow more intense, bloody, and wild (sharks in the Colosseum, anyone?) than its predecessor while also featuring a more involved game of political infighting among a conniving and ruthless cast of characters, all with different visions for Rome's future.

Nielsen, who reprises her role as Lucilla, sees a connection between the political intrigue in the film and modern-day events: "I think people around the world are reacting to a return of illegitimate power in many places and a turn towards power that wants to control rather than govern," she says. "I think a lot of people are asking themselves, 'Well, what is the difference? What is the difference between being governed and being controlled?' And that is the same thing that we're seeing once again in Gladiator. These people believe that the inherent spirit of Rome is better than the leaders currently sullying that throne."

In the film, those leaders are young twin emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn). Power-hungry, maniacal, and reckless, they're both loose cannons — but Quinn's Geta is the more stable sibling. "Geta certainly plays the role of an older brother," says Quinn, chatting with EW from his trailer on the London set of Fantastic Four (a reunion with Pascal!). "As it's addressed in the film, Caracalla is having some cognitive erosion occurring in one of the lobes in his brain. And that is affecting his ability to be cognizant and conduct himself in a way that's becoming as a young emperor. And there are many snakes in the grass for both of them, and they are very young, and authority without integrity, as we see in politics today, is a very dangerous recipe."

Besides conquering and plundering, the brothers live for each other, says Hechinger, explaining that he and Quinn worked together to explore their characters' "emotional terrain, that is maddening and impulsive and animalistic" — literally. In addition to his other oddities, Caracalla has an actual monkey on his back, played by simian actor Dundus, who served as "yet another inspiration" for the character's crazed behavior.

"I rehearsed a lot with Dundus, and I rehearsed a lot with Joe. These are two great collaborators in very different ways," Hechinger says with a laugh. "Joe and I, I would say, had deeper conversations, but Dundus and I definitely spent quality time as well. Ridley is a limitless filmmaker. Any other filmmaker would say, 'Okay, that's enough craziness.' Ridley's like, 'Yes, yes, yes, a monkey, and a donkey, and this horse.' He also really loves animals. I think there's a through-line in his films of that, the animalistic urges of these creatures but also the human animalistic ways in which our society is built."

While the twins are not exactly popular in Rome, they have an ace up their sleeve in Lucilla, whom they keep under lock and key in a gilded cage. She's their "political pawn," Nielsen says. "We can show her off every time we have a bloodletting in the arena and say, 'See, everything we're doing is in the vein and in the name of the glory of Marcus Aurelius.'"

Lucilla basically lives in home detention with her new husband, Acacius, who is also a reluctant tool for the emperors. "They've been put into this horrible place where you just feel that these are two people who together refuse to give in to the circumstance around them," Nielsen explains. "Between each other and inside themselves, they create the freedom that their souls need. Internally, they have created a little paradise that is built off of love, utter trust, and dedication to each other."

Like Lucilla, Acacius has connections to Maximus, having been a soldier under his command — though he does not appear in the first film. Pascal describes his character as "a soldier through and through" who "rose to the rank of general because battle is what he does best." Like Maximus, he has "a moral center around leadership, not power," which Pascal calls a "very important" distinction. "He's also a very committed partner to [Lucilla], who is the real deserved leader," he adds. "As a soldier and as a general, he serves and protects her and her presence and her vision for a better Rome more than he does, obviously, the emperors."

Then there's Macrinus, a self-made man of great wealth and even greater intelligence, which makes him incredibly dangerous. "He wants everything, and he's willing to use anyone to get it," Washington tells EW, adding that Macrinus "sold his soul to the devil" to get where he is. "He wants to be king. He wants to be the most powerful. He wants everyone under his foot. He wants to rule the world, and he doesn't care what it takes to get it. He'll use anyone or anybody."

As a puppet master and gladiator trader, Macrinus mostly sits back and pulls the strings without getting his hands dirty. As such, Washington spent less time fighting than his costars and more time learning "to hold my goblet and lift my skirt when stepping over things." Indeed, the two-time Oscar winner seems to have the most fun in the film, chewing up his scenes with a gleefully devilish look or perfectly timed rejoinder.

"Everybody keeps saying that," he says, clearly a bit baffled by the feedback. "I'm having too good a time. Is that what you're telling me?" he asks with a chuckle.

"All he had to do is sit there and know that he's the best in the world at everything, and he thinks that, and that's fun," Washington adds of his character. "He really didn't have to do any heavy lifting. The boys are down there fighting, being chased by rhinos. I'm just sitting up in this tent, twirling my goblet. That's fun."

For all its new characters, action, and political machinations, Gladiator II is also deeply rooted in the original — specifically regarding Crowe's Maximus and the legend he left in his wake. The most significant example is the film's reveal that, contrary to what Lucius had been told his whole life, Maximus is his biological father. 

Related: Everything we know about Gladiator II so far

When Mescal learned the twist early in his discussions with Scott, he admits his immediate reaction was, "Oh s---." Still, the big reveal didn't add too much pressure to the already weighty role. "I think it probably made me more excited in the sense that the nerves, regardless of the character's lineage, would exist because of how well-received and how brilliant the first film is," he says. The twist didn't change much about Mescal's approach to the character, "But what I tried to do was figure out exactly who Lucius was and where those differences lay between Lucius and Maximus."

A key difference between the father and son is their vision for Rome. "Maximus, to me, is looking to restore honor in Rome throughout the first film. And I think Lucius starts this film from the point of wanting to totally dismantle it. And if he could burn it all down, he would," Mescal explains. "But he gets to the point where he's trying to restore honor, so there's a massive 180 pivot that you have to make throughout it."

Mescal says it would be "just wrong to try and regurgitate" what Crowe did, so he had no desire to reach out to his predecessor while making the sequel. "I think now would be a great time to talk to him," he says post filming. "The dust has settled, my job is done, and I would love to trade war stories now about what it was like making it for him and what it was like making it for me."

The "Lucius, I am your father" reveal didn't surprise Nielsen, who says she suspected the story might go this way while shooting the first film, though no one ever discussed the possibility at the time. "I was not sure whether they were going to just insinuate it or they were going to come straight out and say that Lucilla had been a bit of a bad girl. What you felt was that Maximus, when he talked to Lucius in Gladiator, did so with a lot of love. You could see that he was speaking the way he spoke to his own son back home. And I felt that [Crowe] was doing that scene as well with a feeling of, 'Oh, what if…'"

Nielsen is one of only two actors to appear in both Gladiator films — the other being Derek Jacobi, who reprises his role as Lucilla's ally, Senator Gracchus — and as such, she has unique insight into the beating hearts of both films. For all the talk of lineage, scheming, plotting, and throne-taking, one might be tempted to draw comparisons to Pascal's Game of Thrones. But Nielsen likens it more to a different major franchise. "I think it's more like Star Wars," she says. "It reminds me of something that Joaquin [Phoenix] said when we were getting ready for the first one. He said, 'Imagine this: We're recreating Ancient Rome with the guy who created Blade Runner.' And I just thought that was such an astute observation on his part, really pointing out that it's about creating worlds, and it doesn't matter when or what time in history. To me, it comes back to the development of these archetypes that stay hopeful about the human race. And that is what Star Wars is about to me, the creation of these archetypes who are fighting the destruction of those human values."

Both films, she adds, also operate on a "grand scale that you are not used to seeing in most productions over decades at a time."

That sense of scale has stood out to much of the cast. Washington claims it's "the biggest film" he's been on to date. Pascal, who has worked on Star Wars (The Mandalorian) and Game of Thrones, gushes, "Somehow, f---ing Ridley Scott surpasses all of these experiences with the most incredible set I've ever been on. And everyone was saying so, like department heads and people that have been on his previous sets and other big, big-ass movies. And once we were all around Rome and the Rome set pieces and all of that, we were all gobsmacked…. If anything, you had to tell the newbies this is not normal."

What has become normal for Pascal is dealing with the expectations of rabid fanbases. But whether it's Gladiator II, The Last of Us, or the Marvel movie he's busy making as we speak, the actor says creative decisions can never be made with fear of fanboys in mind: "That would be a real disservice to the thing that is loved. So I think that that's the thing you really want to avoid."

How does he handle it? "You don't remove yourself from it," Pascal says. "You just jump on the ride, and the rest really isn't up to you. It's all meant to service the thing that is loved initially, and that's the intention that everyone has going into it. So it really is just getting on the ride and putting all the love you can into it."

Even though it's his first foray into big-budget productions, Mescal already seems to have a handle on the attention that's to come. "You can't cater to the people who have pre-decided for their knives to be out and exactly where they're going to put them with this film," he says. There's also the not-so-small fact that Scott and several key creatives from the first movie returned to make this one. "If anybody's going to have concern about the legacy of the first film, it's going to be Ridley Scott," Mescal points out. "So if he's deciding to make it, why, 'Everybody just needs to calm down,' is my not-so-eloquent way of putting that," he says, laughing. "But I would be having a totally different conversation with you if I'd seen the film and didn't like it. I love the film that I saw, so I'm excited for people to go in and experience it. And I have a sneaking suspicion that it's a theatrical event that — if I wasn't in it — I'd probably want to see maybe more than once in the cinema, because it feels so big, and we're not used to seeing big films that aren't just purely franchise films."

As for where we'll see Mescal in cinemas next, the actor just wrapped Chloé Zhao's adaptation of Hamnet, in which he plays William Shakespeare. So perhaps it's fate that he's found himself beneath that Richard II quote, which continues: "The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation; that away men are but gilded loam or painted clay."

Until now, Mescal's spotless reputation has been that of an indie darling, not a major blockbuster star. But it's clear to everyone — from Scott, who says Mescal "stands shoulder to shoulder" with Crowe's Best Actor-winning work, to Pascal, who jokes that the Irish star is his "wee son" and "sensational" in the film — that with Gladiator II, that time is over. Just don't tell him that.

Mescal is completely confused when EW asks if he feels, with the film now under his belt, that he's made it. "Made what?" he asks earnestly. You know, made it.

"Oh, no! Come on," he says, realization dawning on his face. "No, I would say that I'm ambitious so that there's no endpoint. There's never making it. It's not like I've made Gladiator II and I'm like, 'Okay, put up the feet, chill out.' I have so much more that I want to do. As long as people will continue to have me, I'm sure that ceiling will just keep moving to different places in the house." Or, you know, the arena.

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Directed by Alison Wild + Kristen Harding

Photography by Charlotte Ellis

Motion - DP: Jack Edwards; SteadiCam Op: Lee Brown

Production - 1st AD: Simon Rooke; Art Department Director: Nerissa Gill; Set Dressers: Jon Boylan, Pete Morgan, John Rook, Kristian Raciti

Photo - Retoucher: Studio RM

Post-Production - Color Correction: Nate Seymour/TRAFIK; VFX: Derek Viramontes; Design: Chuck Kerr; Music: Harry Gregson-Williams

EW Creative - Photo Director: Alison Wild; Head of Video: Kristen Harding; Creative Director: Chuck Kerr

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.