Ridley Scott sets Denzel Washington’s same-sex kiss record from Gladiator II.
When asked about the scene at the Hollywood premiere of the film, the director in an interview for Diversity that the scene was “acted” but ultimately not caught on camera.
“Denzel said he kissed a man on the lips, but that wasn’t the final cut,” the local interviewer told Scott, 86, who replied, “No, that’s bullshit—-.”
He then noted that there was a moment between Washington’s character Macrinus and “the senator,” but clarified, “They never [kiss]. They acted in the moment – that didn’t happen.”
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Enter Denzel Washington Gladiator II (2024).
Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures
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Washington (69) was also asked about the scene at the premiere. He said Diversity that it was a “tingle” and not a “kiss”, and that the whole thing was “much ado about nothing really”.
“They’re making more of it than it was,” said the two-time Oscar winner. “I kissed his hands, I pecked him and I killed him.”
Washington previously said he kissed a male actor in a moment that was deleted after he was asked “how gay” he is in the sequel to the 2000 blockbuster.
“I actually kissed a man in the movie, but they took it out. They cut it,” the actor said cheerfully earlier this month. “I think they have chicken.”
“I kissed the guy on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for it yet,” he added, before joking that the sequence “killed him about five minutes later” in what he called the “kiss of death.” ”
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Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington entered Gladiator II (2024).
Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures
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That reportedly wasn’t the only kiss scene that ended up on the cutting room floor. Paul Mescal, who also stars in the film, revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he was rehearsing the forehead kiss scene between him and Pedro Pascal, which also did not make it into the film.
“I did it in one of the frames, and then we’ll radio the messages back to Ridley [in video village]and I said, ‘Ridley: Kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yes or no?’ There was radio silence for a second,” Mescal said. “His radio crackled, and [Ridley] he says, ‘I’m afraid I am.’ ”
Gladiator IIwritten by David Scarpa (from Napoleona 2023 historical epic also directed by Scott), also starring Joseph Quinn and May Calamawy, and follows the story from the original film.
That film followed Maximus (Russell Crowe), a Roman general who is the victim of a coup by the evil emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) who rises through the ranks as a gladiator so he can get revenge on Commodus for killing his family.
Gladiator II is in cinemas on Friday, November 22.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education