Gladiator II: Denzel Washington spills the tea on axed same-sex kiss
Denzel Washington has opened up about his cut same-sex kiss from Gladiator II. On 22 November, movie enthusiasts will finally be treated to the sequel to Ridley Scott’s critically acclaimed 2000 hit film starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.
Ahead of the blockbuster’s release, Washington sat down with Gayety to chat about all things Gladiator II, including his character Macrinus’ same-sex kiss that ended up on the cutting room floor. “I kissed the man in the film, but they took it out, cut it, I think they got chicken,” he told the news outlet. “Yeah, I kissed the 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. The Kiss of Death.” Washington isn’t the only actor from the film to open up about their same-sex kissing scene not making the final cut.
Back in October, Mescal revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he included a forehead kiss during one of his intense battle scenes with Pedro Pascal. “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 explained. “I did it in one of the takes, then we 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?
