As some countries, including the UK, prepare to receive Gladiator 2 this weekend before next week’s North American debut, we’re learning more and more behind the scenes trivia from the biggest actors in the long-awaited sequel. Perhaps the chattiest one so far has been Denzel Washington, who said a few days ago he’s set to be part of Black Panther 3.
Now, during an interview with Gayety, the veteran actor has confirmed he kissed a man in the movie, but that scene (at least in its original form) didn’t make the cut.
“I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken…I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death,” the actor answered to a question about queerness in the Roman Empire, since the script reportedly highlights several times that Macrinus has been in relationships with other men.
With a 148-minute runtime, it’s not like the studio was trying to make the historical epic as short as possible, but you know how these things go in mainstream movies which have to appeal to as many people as possible. Regardless, he seems happy with the experience, and the reviews have been praising his performance as one of the best parts of the sequel, which is currently sitting at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Washington has also mentioned in the past that, at this point in his career, he’s looking for the right filmmakers to work with, so a reunion with Ridley Scott after 2007’s American Gangster only made sense to him. “I have to be inspired by the filmmaker, and I was tremendously inspired by Ridley… We had a great go-round the first go-round and here we are. He’s engaged. He’s excited about life and his next film. He’s an inspiration. We should all want to feel like that at 86,” he told Empire Magazine earlier this year.
“I don’t know how many more films I’m going to make. It’s probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done,” the actor also revealed to Australia’s TODAY a few days ago. This might explain why he’s circling the Black Panther threequel that hasn’t been officially announced yet.
By the way, Scott is already toying with ideas for a third Gladiator if a studio is willing to foot the bill after a solid theatrical run from the second one. Will you be catching it in the coming weeks?