Paul Mescal Stripped Down in Front of Trainer Before Shooting Gladiator II: 'There's a Canvas with Which to Work Here'

Paul Mescal bared it all in front of his physical trainer for Gladiator II. 

The actor, 28, recalled bulking up for his latest role in the epic historical action movie during a Nov. 20 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – and the process began with him stripping down in a hotel room with trainer Tim Blakeley.  

Mescal told host Stephen Colbert that his training to play vengeful Roman fighter Lucius began "two or three months" before the movie went into production.

He said, "I had a trainer called Tim Blakeley, who's as big as that screen behind us, and he really looked after me."

The Aftersun actor continued to share a story where Blakeley visited him at his hotel and asked him to take off his clothes down to his underwear.

"So, I'm stood there in my underwear and he's just kind of circling me, and basically just looking at my body scientifically," Mescal said. "He comes back and there’s just this intense silence, and he's just looking at me with his head cocked, and he goes, 'There's a canvas with which to work here.' "

The 2024 PEOPLE's Men of the Year winner said that Blakeley then proceeded to "give me numbers in terms of how much kilos he wants me to put on in each body part."

Mescal recalled being told to eat "all of the chicken imaginable" to pack on the weight. 

Also starring Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, Gladiator II follows Lucius as he is forced to enter the Colosseum after the emperors of Rome have conquered his home.

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The hotly anticipated movie is the sequel to the 2000’s Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and sees the return of director Ridley Scott. 

On Oct. 25, Mescal said on The Graham Norton Show that his trainer "went to town, and I saw him every day. It was fun."

Moreover, the Ireland native said he wasn’t willing to give up a few of his personal habits to get into shape, but he otherwise followed the strict rules. 

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"I did everything he asked, but I like to drink, and I like to smoke, so I drew a line in the sand where those were concerned,” he shared.

Gladiator II opens in theaters on Nov. 22.