Connie Nielsen’s portrayal of Lucilla in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, a role that she reprised from the first film, was not necessarily a locked-in endeavor for the actress. The actress is being praised for her portrayal of the character, something that a lot of critics had feared would not match up to her initial appearance in Gladiator, given that there was a general air of anxiety around the sequel.
In the second Gladiator film, Nielsen ended up having a bigger role than what was teased by the marketing material. In fact, the character is quite integral to the story, which was one of the reasons why Nielsen agreed to come back to essay the role of Lucilla.
Connie Nielsen would not have returned for a shorter role in the film
Speaking with Collider, Connie Nielsen talked about what she felt when she first looked at the script, and how she would not have returned to the film if certain conditions had not been met. When asked what have been the situation if she had just two scenes in the film, she said:
Yeah, I wouldn’t have done it.
When probed further about why she would not do it, the actress said:
Lucilla is such a sacred character for me. It’s a sacred experience, and I would have wanted to honor her experience. I think that Ridley treated her with such generosity and care, and I was very grateful for that care.
Essentially, the story would have been very different without Connie Nielsen getting the amount of time in the film that she did, which was paramount, given that the protagonist of the film was her on-screen son. Sidelining her character would remove a major part of the characterization that Paul Mescal‘s character had.
Gladiator II assuaged a lot of fears about the sequel
While Gladiator II has not been able to reach the same heights as the original film, fans are very pleased by the fact that the film is at least performing a little more decently at the box office than it was expected. Sitting at a cozy 71% on Rotten Tomatoes as opposed to the 80% that Gladiator sits on, the film has been able to wow critics enough, and get a decent amount of people in the theatre, though the film is still on its way to breaking even.
Gladiator II has at least entered the mainstream conversation among films, which is mostly dominated by franchise slop that comes out every other week. However, the interest that the film has awakened in non-franchise stories (despite being a sequel itself), is something that could be telling a change in the way consumers look at films. It’s not that there is a disinterest in genres like superhero films, but fans are now leaning towards a more casual approach to the films, given that there is so much of it.
Gladiator II is currently in theatres.
