Denzel Washington Reveals What Scene Got The ‘Kiss Of Death’ In ‘Gladiator II’

Denzel Washington recently spilled on a same-sex kiss scene he filmed for “Gladiator II” that won’t make it to the big screen this month.
“I actually kissed a man in the film, but they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken,” said the actor, who plays Macrinus in the “Gladiator” sequel, in an interview with Gayety’s Caitlynn McDaniel.
Washington, who was asked “how gay” the Roman Empire is, told McDaniel that the smooch was “full on the lips.”
“And I guess they weren’t ready for that yet,” he continued.
“I killed him about five minutes later. It’s ‘Gladiator.’ It’s the kiss of death.”
“Gladiator II” director Ridley Scott, in an interview with The New York Times published last week, described Washington’s character as having both a “twinkle” of bisexuality and being a “gangster.”
The film marks a reunion of sorts for Scott and Washington, who previously worked together on Scott’s 2007 film “American Gangster.”
Scott told the Times that Washington is “always fractious” in his latest film.
“That’s who he is: Denzel, in a funny kind of way, is a Method actor,” he said.
“When he’s doing a part, he’s in the part all the time, so it isn’t Denzel daily, even off-camera.”
It’s unclear whether the scene with Washington will make it to the “Gladiator II” director’s cut, but at least one kiss is reportedly set to find a home on the edit.
Paul Mescal, who plays Maximus’ son Lucius Verus in the film, recently told CinemaBlend how he improvised kissing Pedro Pascal, who plays Marcus Acacius, on the forehead toward the end of a fight scene.
“I didn’t tell Ridley I was gonna do it. And then I was nervous after we did it because I thought he was going to fucking hate it,” Mescal said.
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He continued, “So I nervously go over the radio being like, ‘Ridley? Did you like the kiss on the forehead? Yay or nay?’ And there was this kind of, like, [static] ‘I’m afraid I did.’ So I don’t know where it got lost in the edit, but I trust this man entirely, though. How he cuts his films.”
“Gladiator II” hits theaters on Nov. 22.