Denzel Washington Said a Gladiator-on-Gladiator Kiss Was Cut From ‘Gladiator II’

This week, the respective press cycles for the next can’t-miss-theater-event aka “Glicked” (Gladiator II and Wicked) kicked into high gear. While Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are generally just kind of crying and holding each other, Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal are letting us all in on the hot homoerotic goings-on behind the scenes of Gladiator II.

“I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out. They cut it,” Washington told Gayety this week when asked just how gay the gladiators got in the film. “I think they got chicken.” First, Ridley Scott…count your days. Second, just what kind of kiss are we talking about here? A peck? A butterfly? A French?!

“I kissed a guy full on the lips and they, I guess they weren’t ready for that yet,” the Oscar-winner clarified, adding that he then killed the lucky guy “five minutes later.” I think that’s called being cruel to be kind. When one gets kissed “full on the lips” by Denzel, what else do they have to live for anyway?

Now, Washington wasn’t the only Roman getting loose-lipped. Apparently, Mescal and Pascal, too, engaged in a little affection. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mescal said he had the wild idea to plant one on Pascal’s forehead during a fight scene. Devastatingly, that take wasn’t used either.

“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?'” Mescal recalled. “There was radio silence for a second. His radio crackles back, and [Ridley] goes, ‘I’m afraid I did.'”

“I think Ridley’s one of the funniest men I’ve ever come across,” he added.

Yeah, really hilarious how he keeps edging me like this. I simply cannot stop laughing. Nevertheless, a world where men are just running around kissing and killing each other? Respectfully, you all can have your witch sing-a-longs. I’m just going to be in Gladiator II like this.