In Gladiator II, Denzel Washington plays a former gladiator and arms dealer named Macrinus. He wants to take control of Rome.
Macrinus is based on a real person from history. But director Ridley Scott says Macrinus is similar to a modern-day politician.
Scott explained the character’s background to The Hollywood Reporter: “[Macrinus] was a prisoner of war, maybe from a North African country. He was brought to Rome as a gladiator. He survived, escaped, and started working in business, selling things like wine and bread. He became very rich, selling food, oil, wine, clothes, and weapons to the Roman armies. He even had a million men working for him in Europe. He was a billionaire, so why wouldn’t he want to be the ruler of Rome? He’s also a gangster, like Trump. A smart gangster. He makes chaos, and from that chaos, he grows stronger.”
Washington himself explained his character, saying, “He uses everyone around him. He’d use his mother or his children. He’s lost his soul, so he has nothing left. He’s working with evil forces.”
Washington, who is 70 years old, is getting Oscar buzz for his role. He also made news by saying there was a same-sex kiss in the movie that was removed. The original version of the film was nearly four hours long. But Scott later explained that the kiss was part of a rehearsal, and it was never filmed. Washington added that it was more like a quick “peck” and the attention it got was “not a big deal.”
Washington also shared in an interview that he has been sober for almost 10 years after struggling with alcohol. He said, “I’ve hurt my body a lot. But I’ve been clean for 10 years, since I turned 60. I haven’t had a drop of wine since. Things are getting better for me now. I’m 70, and it’s okay. If I get another 30 years, I’ll be happy. My mom lived to be 97.”
Gladiator II opens this weekend. It stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott’s sequel to his 2000 Oscar-winning movie.