Pedro Pascal Talks About Getting in Shape for ‘Gladiator 2’ at 49

Pedro Pascal is getting candid about his workouts for Gladiator II.

After hearing that Paul Mescal called training for the film “fun,” Pascal, 49, replied, “Yeah, I bet it was. I bet it was fun for him. Maybe it would’ve been fun for me too, if I was 20 years younger.”

“I was under no single directive from the movie to get in any kind of shape, but I did,” Pascal told Entertainment Tonight in an interview posted Saturday, November 2. “Mainly so that I wouldn’t get hurt, and it didn’t work. I got hurt anyway. I got stronger than I’ve ever been just so that I can play the character, really.”

Costar Connie Nielsen gushed that Pascal was “very impressive” when she saw him on set in his costume. While Pascal appreciated his costar’s praise, he recalled seeing the Gladiator franchise filmmaker Ridley Scott and having a different interaction.

Paul Mescal Refused to Give Up Drinking, Smoking for 'Gladiator 2' Role

“I saw Ridley today and he was like, ‘Oh, your belly is gone,’” Pascal said, to which Nielsen, 59, laughed and added, “He did say that.”

Pascal joked that he “didn’t get into that great of shape” for the film, adding that he was “snatched” in his leather armor.

While discussing the process of filming battle scenes, Pascal noted that Scott, 86, would have them film a sequence from start to finish — which required all of the “elements” to be “in place.”

“It’s a lot of fun but I’m definitely getting to the point where I can’t just wake up and do that s— … I can’t wake up and do stuff like that, so I got ready for that,” Pascal continued. “I used to be able to wake up and do that stuff, but things have changed and so I knew I wanted to be able to do those things. So I trained and rehearsed obviously a lot to be able to do it.”

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Pascal’s approach to training differed slightly from Mescal, 28, who admitted last month that he refused to give up drinking and smoking while training for his role in the film.

“I ate a lot of chicken and lifted heavy things,” Mescal said during an appearance on BBC’s The Graham Norton Show at the time. “I was working with a trainer who circled me like a shark and said, ‘There is a canvas to work with.’ He went to town, and I saw him every day. It was fun.”

He added, “I did everything he asked but I like to drink, and I like to smoke, so I drew a line in the sand where those were concerned.”

The movie takes place decades after the events of the original film, which premiered in 2000. Gladiator II follows Lucius (Mescal), who’s the son of Lucilla and nephew of Commodus.

Gladiator II hits theaters on November 22.