Could Gladiator II have worked without Ridley Scott?

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Connie Nielsen and Fred Hechinger open up on the (second) biggest sequel of the year. Report by Nelsonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00Connie, hello.

00:01Hi.

00:02How does it feel to be involved in the second most anticipated sequel of the year after

00:06Nobody 2?

00:07Mr. Nobody 2.

00:08Oh, thank you!

00:09That is a movie that is one of the real hidden gems.

00:14We just finished shooting just before I came here.

00:17Really?

00:18Yeah, it was really fun.

00:19Can we expect something exciting then, as good as the first?

00:21It's going to be amazing.

00:22I like, I do love, obviously we'll talk about Gladiator in a second.

00:26This is a film that comes with all this expectation and stuff, but when you're involved in those

00:30little gems that nobody really knows much about or what to expect, and then it just

00:34turns out to be like a real kind of quality, one of those kind of underground, word of

00:40mouth sort of things.

00:42As an actor, it must be really gratifying to be involved in both those kind of sides

00:46of the business.

00:47Yeah.

00:48I think, you know, all credit is due to Ilya and Bob Odenkirk.

00:52You know, Ilya, our director, was amazing and, you know, came straight out of like sort

00:57of underground Russian music videos and rock and roll, and then Bob Odenkirk just has incredible

01:04instinct and is a wonderful performer.

01:07So yes.

01:08Yeah, well I'm looking forward to that.

01:09But let's talk about this one, shall we?

01:12Yes.

01:13Gladiator.

01:14Like, I just, I never thought, I never thought I'd see the day when there was a real Gladiator

01:18sequel.

01:19I think the studios would have loved this to have arrived years back to kind of keep

01:23that gravy train running.

01:26But it's sort of, it's right in a way that we've waited this long.

01:31Let's talk about your experiences with The First.

01:36Looking back all those years ago, did you ever have a sense that you were going to be

01:41involved in something that would sit, have its place in cinema history?

01:45I think we all thought it was going to be a pretty great movie.

01:50I don't know that we thought it would become like a classic in that way.

01:55I don't think that we were thinking that far and we were young.

01:59And but, you know, even Ridley at the time was still being sort of like underestimated

02:07a lot.

02:10Blade Runner was like, the critics had like, you know, demolished it.

02:17And yet it's like, to me, one of the most brilliant films.

02:20And I think it was Joaquin who said like, that one of the things that he thought about

02:25before we started was, think about it, Connie, he said, like, just like the guy who created

02:31the universe of Blade Runner, he's going to do that to the Roman Empire.

02:35And I was just like, yep, that's exactly going to be amazing.

02:38Then we came to Malta and we saw what he built.

02:42And then we were like, oh, I don't think we said OMG at the time, but I think we would

02:48have.

02:49Let's talk about how big you go in this, because it's the most unhinged character in the film,

02:55arguably.

02:56Did that have some fears and trepidation of getting on set with the likes of Ridley Scott,

03:03with the likes of Denzel Washington and being like, I've got to eat up this screen?

03:08How did they encourage you to do that?

03:10I mean, I feel that a big part of acting is trafficking in fear and nerves.

03:16I think you want to do things that feel true and new and haven't been done before and are

03:25scary to you, but reveal something, I guess.

03:29So for me, I always find that ends up being, or has frequently been, a blend of joy and

03:37excitement and immense fear.

03:39And, yeah, it's just...

03:44There are days where you're so scared, you're like, I don't...

03:50You're scared.

03:51I don't know.

03:52It's interesting you bring up Blade Runner, because there's a really successful sequel

03:56made by Denis Villeneuve, which was an amazing movie in its own right, but to hear Ridley

04:01talk about it, you can tell there's almost a sense of regret in a way that he didn't

04:06go back and managed to get his act, he's stuck into that world again.

04:10Do you think Gladiator 2 could have worked without him?

04:14No, I really don't think so.

04:16I have to say, he has this aesthetic that is unheard of.

04:22I've never seen that particular aesthetic anywhere else.

04:26He knows how to build texture and nuance into every part of the image, because he thinks

04:35about so many different things all at once and takes care of detail in such a way that

04:42I don't think anyone is like that.

04:46And I don't think anyone can make things that particular, I call it crunchy.

04:52He's got this crunchy experience, you know when the toast is just right?

04:58That's what it's like with him, he builds these images that are just perfect, perfect.

05:04Tell me about working with Denzel Washington, because you have, I don't want to give too

05:09much away about the film, but you have an intimate relationship, your characters have

05:14an intimate relationship with how you kind of politically, and there's a lot of stuff

05:20that goes on there.

05:21It's hard to say without kind of giving away massive spoilers.

05:25But working with somebody who's regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation,

05:29one of the greatest actors living today, like, I don't know how you'd sleep the night before.

05:36How does that go?

05:37Do you guys sit together beforehand and chew it out and work out where you want to go?

05:42How much did you try to soak up from his presence on set as an actor for going forward in future

05:48projects and stuff?

05:51I think you learn so much by osmosis.

05:55And obviously, like everyone, I have the impulse to ask a million questions and want to find

06:06the Bible that is that person.

06:09But in actuality, I don't know that it exists for anybody.

06:13I think in actuality, the process of working is a very intense and intimate thing.

06:20And you learn through that kind of practical magic.

06:25He is, without a doubt, one of our great artists.

06:30I mean, he's just, to me, a hero and one of the most powerful actors.

06:43Sharing those scenes, working together in that way, it was just amazing.

06:49Because nothing is missed by him.

06:53You feel an artist that is so in the moment of the moment of the moment, that is so focused

06:58on who he is, that character, and his entire environment.

07:03And so it's very exhilarating.

07:04I think as an actor, people are always chasing a kind of surprise.

07:09And when you work with someone that great, everything is very exciting and surprising.

07:13It's difficult to sum up in a short answer, I guess.

07:17Returning to something like this, without some of that iconic cast around you,

07:22and you've got a whole lot to make Denzel Washington, for God's sake, isn't it?

07:25But to be there without Russell and without Joaquin, was there any sense of sadness

07:31with the excitement as well?

07:33Or did this feel completely this new machine that you were thrown into?

07:38I felt like, first of all, I really trust Ridley.

07:41And second of all, with that cast, he had built an extraordinary cast.

07:48And so you really had, yes, a completely new team, if you will, but he knows how to cast.

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