ROYALSPaul Mescal's Dig at King Charles: Actor Says It Wasn't His 'Priority' to Meet the Monarch at 'Gladiator II' Premiere in London
Nov. 19 2024, Published 7:26 a.m. ET
It seems like Paul Mescal wasn't thrilled to meet King Charles when they interacted at the Gladiator II premiere in London in November.
While at the Los Angeles Gladiator event in Los Angeles on Monday, November 18, the actor, 28, was asked about what it was like to mingle with someone from the royal family.
“Never met the king [before that night],” the hunky star said via a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “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.”
Paul Mescal said he found it 'hard' to hear what King Charles was saying when meeting him.
On November 13, Charles, 76, and Mescal greeted one another at the Odeon Lux theater in Leicester Square, where the King also met with his Gladiator II costars, including Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.
“I found it kind of hard to hear exactly what [Charles] was saying … so you’re just kind of nodding along and, just, smiling," Mescal said about the situation.
Meanwhile, Washington, 69, had a different exchange with the King, who is currently battling cancer.
As OK! previously reported, Washington clammed up when being around the monarch. "I didn't know if I was supposed to grab you or not, but it's my pleasure," the A-lister said to the King in a video clip.
King Charles meeting Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal.
- Paul Mescal Admits He Felt 'So Incapacitated' When Acting Alongside Denzel Washington in 'Gladiator II': 'I Built It Up in My Head'
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"I’m ... just awful … I’m a lovely man you’ll see. I’m a lovely chap and doing my best," he said about playing gladiator trader and arms dealer Macrinus in the new film.
"You've been in so many films, it's fantastic," King Charles replied.
During a screening of the film, which releases on November 22, in October, Washington described his character as "misunderstood."
He is "trying to use everybody. He used his mother, he used his own children. He'd already used up his soul, so he didn't have any left. But he's in bed with the devil," said Washington about Macrinus.
Paul Mescal appears in the new 'Gladiator II' film.
Meanwhile, Mescal said he had to get into tip-top shape to play Lucius Verus.
According to the Normal People star, his trainer “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.”
King Charles seen at the 'Gladiator II' premiere.
However, he didn't cut out two guilty pleasures.
“I did everything [Scott] asked but I like to drink, and I like to smoke, so I drew a line in the sand where those were concerned,” he continued.
