Paul Mescal revealed he was initially supposed to wear a wig in Gladiator II but opted against it.
While recently chatting with Wicked star Ariana Grande for Variety’s Actors On Actors series, Paul – who stars as Lucius in the Ridley Scott-directed Gladiator sequel – explained why he couldn’t bear to sport a wig after showing up for a fitting.
The Oscar nominee expalined that, in general, he’s “not a fan” of wigs while recalling his first fitting as being “dodgy”.
After Ariana asked him to describe what the wigs that he tried on looked like, he replied: “They were big.”
The Irish actor added: “It was just — I don’t have a head for wigs.”
But Paul went on to explain that his issue with the wigs extended beyond just looks.
Noting that it had “nothing to do with” the makeup and hair team on set, which he called “the best in the world,” Paul said he believed the wigs would have affected his ability to focus on acting out the film’s many choreographed fight sequences.
“I don’t want [the hair and makeup crew] coming in and fixing the things that are falling out of the back of my head [from the wig moving around],” he said.
Despite his shaky start with the wigs, the Aftersun actor shared that “seeing myself in the costume” made him pumped to star in the film.
“[It] was one of the moments where I was like, ’I’m doing Gladiator II,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Paul opened up about the physical changes he underwent to get geared up for the role.
“I initially decided when I’d first been cast — which was very naive — I was like, ‘I’m just going to go for normal Gladiator’,” he said. “Like, ‘The way my body is, is the way my body is’.”
He continued, “And then I was like, ‘That’s not the film we’re making.’ So I went into the gym, but I hadn’t tried on the costumes yet, and I think, when I put the costumes on, that was the moment for me where I was like, ‘This is miles away from anything I’ve ever done’.”
Gladiator II, which also stars Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, is in cinemas now Watch a clip from Paul and Ariana’s interview below: