He rose to fame playing the shy, sensitive Connell in Normal People, but actor Paul Mescal has undergone a stunning physical transformation to star in the upcoming Gladiator movie sequel.
The 27-year-old Irish actor looked ripped as he walked through central London in his signature O’Neills Gaelic football shorts after hitting the gym last week.
He is currently on a break from filming the follow-up to Russell Crowe’s 2000 Oscar-winning epic, as production has been suspended due to the Hollywood actors’ strike.
Mescal will reportedly earn £6million for starring in the blockbuster in which he plays Lucius, the secret son of Crowe’s character Maximus, who died at the end of the first film.
He will star opposite Denzel Washington, whose character has yet to be revealed but is believed to be an enslaved landowner with a grudge against the Emperor.
Paul Mascal looked ripped as he walked through central London in his signature O’Neills Gaelic football shorts after hitting the gym last week
Mescal will reportedly earn £6 million for starring in the blockbuster in which he plays Lucius, the secret son of Crowe’s character Maximus
Paul Mascal as Connell opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones in the BBC Three adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People
A Hollywood source familiar with the film, due out next fall, said: “Paul has been training for months. He goes to the gym almost every day to gain strength and has a dietician who advises him what to eat for maximum muscle growth. All that hard work is clearly paying off.’
Mescal, who grew a beard for the role, showed off his physique on social media and thrilled fans with footage of himself pumping iron.
But in an interview earlier this year, the star claimed he wasn’t interested in discussing his muscular appearance, saying: ‘With films like this and superhero films, sometimes the focus is on that, which I don’t find that interesting.
“Of course there’s a physical toughness required for the character, but I’m not interested in that.
‘That man has to fight and must be a beast. And whatever that looks and feels like, whatever is right for me, it will be.”
Mescal was such an overnight sensation starring opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones in the BBC adaptation of Normal People that even the chain he wore around his neck had its own social media account.
