Making Of GLADIATOR 2 (2024) - Best Of Behind The Scenes, Stunt Action & Set Visit With Pedro Pascal

It's been 25 years since Gladiator 1. There's an excitement coming back to the Roman Empire. The first Gladiator had a huge impact across the world. How does it feel? Epic. It's not lost on me what we as a cast of actors and Ridley are stepping into. The story they came up with, it was brilliant. It speaks to a deep human experience. Where you are, I am too. At the start of the film, Rome has been through 20 years of upheaval with the madness of power-hungry people who invite the throne. There are victories yet still to come. Rome has so many subjects, she must feed them. They can eat war! The whole story is based on whose child was sent away to protect him. Never let them find you. We see him dragged back into Rome, a prisoner. Whose head could I give you that would satisfy this fury? The entire Roman army. Everything that goes into creating this world is incomparable. This is the biggest film I've been on. It's huge. Cecil B. DeMille on steroids. This is about survival! Survive! All the things that you see in the film, Flooding the Coliseum, Wild Animals, it's recorded by all of these things happening. This is real. There's nothing like having the real thing. Everywhere you turn, there's thousands of soldiers in beautiful costumes. To walk out in that arena for the second time was pretty amazing. It's grand in scope with sophisticated characters and storytelling. It's all the things that fill in the word epic. Strength to none! I think Ridley would be a great emperor. If you can run a set the size of Gladiator, I think you could give it a good go running the Roman Empire. To be as big as it is, it has to be such a controlled environment. Eight cavalry men will come down here. Four and four. Yet somehow, Ridley finds a way to keep it completely organic and spontaneous. All right, this is what we're gonna do now. Ridley Scott called, said, are you interested? That was enough. He's a visionary. What he sees and how he puts it together. You've got all of these moving parts happening. You move something all the time. And his ability to create these dynamic worlds is pretty extraordinary. Commit to doing it. You want to quit? Do it, man. Yeah. Let's go again. For every challenge that the world of cinema throws up, we span analog into digital, into multicam. He's done it all. Ridley creates these extraordinary characters with emotionally compelling storytelling. He amped up the spectacle even more. I was just so blown away. There's an energy on a Ridley Scott set that is thrilling. It was madness. As much star quality as this movie has, the star that shines the brightest is Ridley. They killed people in the arena for fun. And that was real. There was a big focus on the physical preparation for this film. Remember why you're here. We're making history. I put these guys through hell. There was a lot of very physical training. I got my ass kicked. You can prep and prep and prep and prep, but you've still got to kind of throw that away. We wouldn't need a wire. I can take that. Let's do it. And also, like, whatever genius idea Ridley's going to throw at you. I discovered that Paul's very fast and very good with the sword. This is crazy, right? I've had some training with swords before, but not like this. Surprised the hell out of me because he can be really violent. The attack is fucking perfect. Ridley has an extraordinary team. They're absolutely committed. Pedro and Paul got beat up by the best. I'm incredibly proud of the finished product. It's just an absolutely mad experience. This film just dials it up to 100. My hat comes off to them and what they did. Music to me is language. It's the final dialogue. It gives the film that added dynamic as and when you may need it. Here's ball six, everybody. Six, two, three, four. Harry truly is an extraordinarily good composer. He stuns me with what he is capable of doing. The music that I've written contains elements of Hans's original gladiator theme. Sounds that can be achieved and captured here is second to none. Ridley is quite an open book when it comes to music. But he'll talk to me about light and darkness. And I'll interpret it in a musical way. There's a good balance between big action sequences and the sort of power and nobility of the Roman Empire. This is what they believe in. Ridley's really upped the ante here with the epic battles in the Colosseum. In the script, one line said, this moment, Lucius becomes Maximus. I thought, what if I can create a theme for Lucius that becomes Hans's theme from the first movie? I love that he took it and just expanded it, making something which is so extraordinary. Music is a statement. It's a sound statement. And I think they're going to love it. What is the dream of Rome? For people who are not free. I prepared for this role by training, mainly. And instead of studying Roman history, I used it as an excuse to rewatch all of my favorite Ridley Scott movies and to just let my imagination fill itself with his visual authorship of cinema. And to just kind of unconsciously deliver myself into his vision, be a set piece and to honor the movement of his visuals as best as I could. It's not very actorly, but more kind of like, know what instrument I am and make myself the best instrument for him to play. I just think about Ridley making myself a clarinet and really just being like, this is Pedro, my clarinet. Experience enables me to make it easy for myself. And because I'm able, unusually, to draw very, very accurate storyboards to the level of very complex comic strips, I draw the whole film as a storyboard. So it's this thick before I begin. So I'm fully shooting the thing on paper before I get anywhere near the set. So when I get there, I can position 11 cameras in 11 minutes. I felt like I was discovering as much about Lucila this time as I was 25 years ago. I think that the discovery process is for me the most amazing part of acting. I feel like I'm a detective and I'm going in and I'm starting to build this inner life and this experience and this very specific vibration that that particular individual has. When she does anything, and that's one of the things I so love, is the telling of the story by telling it to yourself first. Like, what is this person doing? Why is she doing this? What does she believe in? Who does she pray to? How does she, what does she dream of? You know, there are so, so many things that goes into building that character. And for me, that was the same this time around. The way that I've changed as an actor is that I no longer worry as much whether a moment is too big. I really, really, really rely on my director to tell me what they need. Whereas before, I wasn't sure if they could be trusted. Now I trust them much more. I think you take everything from every job that you've done before to the thing that's out in front of you. I think the thing that I couldn't take was kind of the focus that would be on the physical preparation. That was a brand new learning experience. But you, to boil it down, I think you take the care that you feel for all of the previous characters that you've played and you put them into the character that you're playing now. That's the job. That's the fundamental job, I think, that you have as an actor. And what I learned from Ridley is kind of endless. But the focus of that would be that the job that we do is precious. The time that we have when we're making the job is precious. And that, I don't know, it shouldn't surprise me, but it surprises me that with the legacy that this man has and the career that he has built and sculpted for himself, that it's still the day that he's living in presently when he's working is the most important, not anything to do with the past or the future. It's very much present tense. I remember that day. I never forgot it. That a slave could take revenge against an emperor. Where were you born? I don't know. I never knew a mother nor a father. You will be my instrument. Who are you? Did you hear that crowd? The greatest temple Rome ever built. The Colosseum. Because this is what they believe in. Power. Pull! There are victories yet still to come. Rome has so many subjects. She must feed them. They can eat war. Harrison, hit! Karina turns slaves into gladiators. The gladiators into free men. You have something in you. I knew it from the start. The Jalal. Rage. And rage is your gift. This is about survival! Survive! Hold together and when it charges, break for the wall. Whose head could I give you that would satisfy this fury? The entire Roman army's. Too much? The general will do. Rome must fall. I need only give it a push. All right, all right. This ring belonged to Maximus. Now I give it to you. What is the dream of Rome? That people are not free. I was only. Now I will control an empire. I will not waste another generation of young men for their vanity. Strength to none!