Timothée Chalamet Was Almost Cast in ‘Gladiator II’ — Then Ridley Scott Watched ‘Normal People’

When you’re one of Hollywood’s few remaining movie stars, it’s not surprising for your name to be floated for every leading man role popping up around town. Such is the life for Timothée Chalamet, whose slate this year included the release of “Dune II,” shooting “A Complete Unknown,” leading into what is gearing up to be an awards campaign for Best Actor, and starting production on Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme.” As if this weren’t enough, Ridley Scott shared in a recent piece for The Hollywood Reporter that, for a time, Chalamet was considered for the part of Lucius, a role which ultimately went to Paul Mescal after the director saw his performance in “Normal People.”

“Any studio would always prefer to have a known star,” said Scott’s producer, Doug Wick, to THR. Having only starred in indie features like “Aftersun” and “All of Us Strangers” and despite awards consideration for both, Mescal was not a known entity at the box office in the way Chalamet was. Ultimately though, after Paramount co-presidents of film Daria Cercek and Michael Ireland saw Mescal as Stanley Kowalski in a West End revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire” (coming to New York’s BAM in February), Wick said they both agreed “no other actor came close.”

In a recent panel moderated by IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill, Scott detailed how he came across “Normal People” and was captured by the performances despite the material not grabbing him.

“I need bedtime stories. Before I go to bed I always watch something. I caught ‘Normal People’ almost by accident,” said Scott. “It was not my kind of thing really, but I watched two and thought that both the guy and the girl were terrific. Then I binged eight hours.”

Scott was positive Mescal was his guy after watching “Normal People” and Mescal didn’t hesitate to step into the arena with him. He recognized the implications something this major would have on his career, but felt it was the right type of project for his sensibilities. “I would’ve had a potential reticence around what the first big studio film was going to be, because it sets out your stall as an actor,” Mescal said to THR, acknowledging the potential of being typecast in the future as the action-hero. “[But] a film like ‘Gladiator II‘ is the dream in terms of studio, big-scale filmmaking because it’s in the hands of Ridley and rooted in human condition with a very clear emotional language.”

Mescal has found a comfort with the director now after making the film together, as he plans to star in another project for Scott called “Dog Stars.” The script for the film is being adapted by Mark L. Smith based on the 2012 Apocalyptic thriller by Peter Heller and follows a pilot and an ex-marine as they try to survive in the aftermath of a pandemic that decimated American society.

“Gladiator II” from Paramount Pictures is now in theaters.