In a recent chat with Gayety, Denzel Washington revealed his gay kiss was removed from ‘Gladiator 2.’
“I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken,” the actor explained. “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 plays Macrinus, a rich Roman who owns gladiators for sport. The script of ‘Gladiator II’ mentions that Macrinus has had relationships with other men.
The role brings Washington back together with director Ridley Scott after they worked together on ‘American Gangster’ in 2007. It was Scott’s involvement that made Washington agree to join the sequel.
“I have to be inspired by the filmmaker, and I was tremendously inspired by Ridley,” the actor shared with Empire magazine earlier this year. “We had a great go-round the first go-round and here we are. He’s engaged. He’s excited about life and his next film. He’s an inspiration. We should all want to feel like that at 86.”
Washington’s same-sex kiss wasn’t the only one cut. Paul Mescal also said a kiss between his character and Pedro Pascal’s character was removed.
The actor told Entertainment Weekly, “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.”
He added, “I did it in one of the takes, and then we’re getting the radio messages back to Ridley [Scott, the film’s director] 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 goes ‘I’m afraid I did.'”
‘Gladiator 2’ will be in theaters on November 22, from Paramount Pictures.
