And the reason that I think he survives isn’t because he’s strong or any of those things, it’s because he actually doesn’t really care if he lives or dies until the final scene with Denzel [Washington] - and there’s something bigger to live into. But when you unpack that, you’re actually dealing with somebody who’s incredibly depressed and morbid, but also that lends a certain chaos to a character, which is a tricky thing to kind of get your psychology around. Because if you unpack it, it runs much deeper than you think.
18
What did you want to convey in the Phsicality of Lucias? Well, I made the mistake first when it was initially announced that I was going play it, I very naively spoke to a journalist and I was like, ‘I think I’m going to play the gladiator in a normal-ish physique.’ But I realised that I was playing against what actually the film requires. But to put it simply - they give you everything. On a film this scale you have the best trainer you could ever imagine, you have your food delivered to the door. So it’s like that requires discipline, but it’s not hard work. That’s just people at the top of their game telling you what to do. But in terms of the psychology that comes with training is you start feeling like your body is capable, which is a weird sentence to say, but you start feeling like your body can inflict damage, which is weird, it changes the way that you move and operate. And if you’re being honest, that is a fun kind of place to live when you know that it’s make believe, you know? What is it like to be in a scene with Denzel Washington? It was never in the bingo cards for me. I never expected, I remember shooting with [Denzel]. I remember Denzel coming around the corner and just being met with this force where I was like, ‘Okay. It’s a sink or swim now.’ Because he is the most extraordinary talent. And he kind of just picks you up and you can only attempt to.. it sounds sycophantic but it’s really not. You’re trying to hold on to this energy and trying to wrap on and grab for anything that you can. One of my favourite times ever on set was towards the end of the actors and writers strike. We had the tail end of the film to shoot. A lot of the greatest memories that I have with him would be kind of just talking about ‘Othello’ with the chairs pulled up and he is an encyclopaedic force when it comes acting. He’s done it all and he continues to do it.
Ridley works at a terrific pace, but with your Indie film roots the speed must help you? The speed is an interesting thing. I think Ridley is like a trust-based director. So you earn that trust. But, like, you try to play little games within it. So, like, you know the rhythm’s probably going to be - take one, break the set down, there’s a good chance it’s going to be in the film. Second take is kind of an insurance take. So I remember turning to Ben, our First AD, kind of after a week when I was sussing out how it’s all working. And I go to Ben, ‘So Ben, on take two can we just do the series’ - so that I’ll like, get an extra take in for free. And I thought I was f--king getting away with this. So I got away with it for about a week, and then we’re going over to another set and Ridley is walking beside me and puts his hand on my shoulder and goes, ‘By the way, I know what you’re f--king doing.’ [laughs] But I think it was indicative of the fact that, like, he knew what I was doing from off the bat.
What is the most frequent direction from Ridley Scott? Ridley won’t give you a note if he doesn’t feel like it’s required, I think. He’ll let you go, but his notes aren’t usually very verbose, they’re thoughts, like, little drops, and then, yeah.
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Tell us what being part of this film means to you? It begins and ends with Sir Ridley Scott, the great, the boss, everything. Absolutely. In casting me, this has totally changed my life, but the trickle-down effect he has with his ambition and his work ethic from Janty Yates [costume designer] and John Mathieson [cinematographer] and everybody in between just makes this film, to my mind, one of the most epic I’ve seen, if I do say so myself [laughs], in the last 10, 15 years.
Finally, you must have gained new skill sets on this shoot, what do you add to your CV having done ‘Gladiator 2’ ? Horse riding is the big one. The horse that I was on was called The Doctor, and he’s like a famous horse in the film world. So I think I’ve actually retired him. I think he’s an older horse. Actually, there’s a stunt in the film where I jump up on the horse, and I’d rehearsed it for three, four, five weeks in the lead up to it. And then as we were getting closer to filming it, Ridley got nervous about me coming off the horse. But I’d spent all this time with Doctor, and so the week before, he goes, ‘No f--king way you’re doing that stuff. Like, it’s just not happening.’ So I was devastated, petitioned him every single day. I was, like, going in, annoying him. And then on the day before we were to do a stunt, he goes, ‘If you come off this, you owe me two Bentleys.’ So, thankfully, I didn’t come off the horse, and I didn’t have to pay him two Bentleys [laughs].
Congratulations on a great performance.
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