Denzel Washington says that his gay kiss scene was cut from Gladiator II
Legendary American actor, Denzel Washington has revealed that his same-sex kiss was cut from Gladiator II.
Speaking in a new interview, Washington, who plays the ruthless businessman Macrinus in the Ridley Scott film, was asked, “How gay is the Roman empire?”
He replied: “I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken.”
“I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death,” he told Gayety.
It’s not the only kiss that was cut, Paul Mescal has revealed that an improvised kiss between him and Pedro Pascal was also removed from the movie.
“There was a moment when we were rehearsing my fight scene with Pedro, and I had an idea towards the end of the scene to kiss Pedro on the forehead,” Mescal told Entertainment Weekly.
“I did it in one of the takes, and then we’re getting the radio messages back to Ridley [in video village], and I was like, ‘Ridley: Kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yay or nay?’”
“There was radio silence for a second. His radio crackles back, and [Ridley] goes, ‘I’m afraid I did.’”