Gladiator II premiered in Los Angeles last night, following the big “royal premiere” in London last week. Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and more came out for both premieres. Last week’s London premiere was attended by King Charles, and it benefited a British-actor charity. There was a receiving line for the actors to meet Charles. At the time, the biggest story from the receiving line was that Denzel sort of didn’t know how to greet the king, but the photos were funny and you could tell that Denzel doesn’t actually give a f–k. Hilariously, neither does Gladiator II’s Irish lead, Paul Mescal. When he was on the carpet at the LA premiere last night, Mescal was asked about meeting King Charles last week. Mescal’s answer could not have been more Irish:
Paul Mescal on meeting King Charles: “I’m Irish, so it’s not on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley [Scott] because I know how important that is for him.” pic.twitter.com/AR60LJ0V4Z
— Variety (@Variety) November 19, 2024
“Never met the king…how wild is it? I mean, it’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards, I’m, like, Irish, so it’s not kind of on the list of priorities. But it’s an amazing thing for Ridley because I know how important that is for him…” It’s hilarious because a lot of British people have no idea how Irish people do not care about their royalty, but Americans are especially oblivious. Like, Variety’s reporter really thought Paul Mescal, an Irishman who speaks Gaelic, would be jazzed about meeting a rotten old English king.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.