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Connie Nielsen’s portrayal of Lucilla in Ridley Scott’sGladiator 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 inGladiator, given that there was a general air of anxiety around the sequel.
In the secondGladiatorfilm, 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 withCollider, 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 withoutConnie Nielsengetting 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 thatPaul Mescal‘s character had.
Gladiator IIassuaged a lot of fears about the sequel
WhileGladiator IIhas 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% onRotten Tomatoesas opposed to the 80% thatGladiatorsits 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.
Pedro Pascal Makes It Clear He is Not Afraid of Hollywood Brass as He Stands by May Calamawy Whose Role Was Completely Cut From Gladiator 2 for an Unpleasant Reason
Gladiator IIhas 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 IIis currently in theatres.
Anuraag Chatterjee
Content Writer
Articles Published :1633
Anuraag Chatterjee, Web Content WriterWith a passion for writing fiction and non fiction content, Anuraag is a Media Science graduate with 2 year’s experience with Marketing and Content, with 3 published poetry anthologies. Anuraag holds a Bacherlor’s degree in Arts with a focus on Communication and Media Studies.
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Connie NielsenGladiator II
