Paul Mescal as Lucius in "Gladiator II."Paramount
Paul was tapped to play the lead role of Lucius in "Gladiator II" without an audition, and it seems the director was so happy with his work that he's considering him for his next project.
Deadline reports that Mescal is in talks for Scott's "The Dogs Stars" thriller for 20th Century Studios, which is based on the Peter Heller apocalyptic thriller, released in 2012, that is being adapted by Mark L Smith.
The story is set in a near future where an unnamed pandemic has decimated American society (remember the book was written in 2012) and a civilian pilot lives a lonely life on an abandoned Colorado airbase with his dog and a tough ex-marine.
The two men might be complete opposites, but they depend on each other to fend off roaming invaders. When a random transmission beams through the radio of the pilot’s 1956 Cessna, the hope of a better life opens up and the pilot follows its static-broken trail.
In the meantime, the pair are preparing for the release of the highly anticipated legacy sequel to "Gladiator", which sees Paul take on the role of the grown-up Lucius, who we met in the first outing.
The actor was in Dublin for the film's premiere and while he was surrounded by friends and family, there was one face in the audience that had Mescal rather "moved".
When speaking to Dave Moore on Today FM, he shared: "I was really moved to see Lenny [Abrahamson] in the audience last night. Like, I knew he was going to be there, but then, being in front of a film like 'Gladiator II', but also being in front of Lenny, who cast me in Normal People, and kind of that being the first junction which has got gotten me to this point..."
He added about his meteoric rise to fame since appearing in "Normal People": "And I know, like five years feels like nothing, but sometimes, within it, it feels like a lot."