Paul Mescal Stripped Down in Front of Trainer Before Shooting Gladiator II: 'There's a Canvas with Which to Work Here'

Paul Mescal revealed all this to his physical trainer Gladiator II.

The actor, 28, recalled bulking up for his latest role in the epic historical action film during a Nov. 20 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – and the process began with him stripping in a hotel room with trainer Tim Blakeley.

Mescal told host Stephen Colbert that his training for the role of the vengeful Roman warrior Lucius began “two or three months” before the film went into production.

He said: “I had a coach called Tim Blakeley, who is as big as a screen behind us, and he really looked after me.”

Paul Mescal at the world premiere of ‘Gladiator II’ in London on November 13, 2024.

Ian West/PA Images via Getty

The The afternoon the actor went on to share a story in which Blakeley visited him at his hotel and asked him to strip down to his underwear.

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“So I’m standing there in my underwear and he’s just circling me, and he’s basically just scientifically looking at my body,” Mescal said. “He comes back and there’s just this intense silence, and he just looks at me with his head down, and he says, ‘There’s a canvas here to work with.’ ”

The 2024 PEOPLE Man of the Year winner said Blakeley then “gave me numbers in terms of how much weight he wanted me to gain on each part of my body.”

Mescal recalled being told to eat “all the chicken you can think of” to gain weight.

Paul Mescal in ‘Gladiator II’.

Paramount Pictures/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

Also starring Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, Gladiator II follows Lucius as he is forced into the Colosseum after the Roman emperors conquer his home.

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The hotly anticipated film is a sequel to the 2000s Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and returning director Ridley Scott.

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Mescal said on October 25 at The Graham Norton Show that his coach “went into town and I saw him every day. It was fun.”

What’s more, the Irish native said he wasn’t willing to give up some of his personal habits to get in shape, but otherwise followed a strict regimen.

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“I did everything he asked, but I like to drink and smoke, so I drew a line in the sand as far as that goes,” he said.

Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22.

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Source: HIS Education