Ridley Scott recalls how Paul Mescal cast in 'Gladiator II'

Ridley Scott is dropping a shocking revelation, saying Paul Mescal was never his first choice for Gladiator II.

The Oscar-winning director shared this in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, adding that Timothée Chalamet’s name was floated for Lucius.

“Any studio would always prefer to have a known star,” he said, referring to a lack of blockbuster hits by Paul.

But things changed in the Aftersun’s star way when Paramount co-presidents of the film Daria Cercek and Michael Ireland watched him in Stanley Kowalski’s A Streetcar Named Desire.

Ridley was similarly stunned by the 28-year-old's performance in The Normal People and made up his mind to play Lucius.

“I need bedtime stories. Before I go to bed, I always watch something. I caught ‘Normal People’ almost by accident,” he told IndieWire. 

“It was not my kind of thing, really, but I watched two and thought that both the guy and the girl were terrific. Then I binged eight hours.”