An epic movie deserves an epic Q&A, and on Friday, November 15 director Ridley Scott was joined by 16 of his collaborators at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood to discuss the making of “Gladiator II” in front of a packed house of fellow filmmakers.
The panel, moderated by yours truly, consisted of Scott, cinematographer John Mathieson, costume designer Janty Yates, military costume designer Dave Crossman, production designer Arthur Max, editors Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo, hair dept head Giuliano Mariano, make-up dept head Jana Carboni, composer Harry Gregson-Williams, visual effects supervisor Mark Bakowski, supervising sound editor Danny Sheehan, supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Matthew Collinge, production sound mixer Stéphane Bucher, and casting director Kate Rhodes James.
When asked what characteristics he looks for when assembling a team of department heads, Scott was clear and to the point. “First, stamina,” he said. “Then, talent.” He said that he discovered “Gladiator II” lead Paul Mescal while watching “Normal People” late at night on TV. “I need bedtime stories. Before I go to bed I always watch something. I caught ‘Normal People’ almost by accident. It was not my kind of thing really, but I watched two and thought that both the guy and the girl were terrific. Then I binged eight hours.” James said other people were discussed — a notion Scott playfully challenged — but Mescal had the exact combination of qualities needed to step into Russell Crowe’s shoes.
Mescal’s Lucius was just one of many new characters created for “Gladiator II,” and Mariano and Carboni revealed a surprising influence on twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger): punk rock royalty The Sex Pistols. “Ridley wanted them to be very edgy,” Carboni said. “Johnny Rotten was actually the reference, especially for the color of the hair.”
Yates said that she took particular pleasure in dressing Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, a former slave and now brutal social climber whose appearance conveys his appreciation for the good things in life. “One thing I love is that he wore his earrings constantly,” she said. “I thought it was going to be a huge battle, but the jewelry, the bracelets, the big belts…he wore it all so well and loved it.”
Many of the people on the panel had worked on the first “Gladiator,” including production designer Arthur Max. A refrain throughout the Q&A was the notion that as sweeping as the original film was, the mandate for “Gladiator II” was to make it even bigger. “We supersized the original movie,” Max said, noting that digital effects were in their infancy when he worked on the first film and that evolving technology allowed him to increase the scale for “Gladiator II” — even filling the Colosseum with water and sharks. For Scott, expanding the scope is just in keeping with creating new challenges for himself on every new film; at 86, he’s already location scouting his next epic. “I feel alive when I’m doing a movie,” he said.
Watch the “Gladiator II” all-guild Q&A in its entirety in the video posted above.