‘Gladiator II’ director compares Denzel Washington’s character to Trump: ‘Smart gang’

Ridley Scott, the director of “Gladiator II,” said during an interview that Denzel Washington’s character in the movie, Marcinus, resembled President-elect Trump.

“[Macrinus] he was a prisoner of war – probably in a North African country – and was actually taken to Rome probably as a gladiator. You survived. I got it for free. He went into business perhaps making wine and bread. He turned into a very rich merchant selling s— to the Roman armies – food, oil, wine, cloth, weapons, everything. He probably had a million men spread across Europe. So he was a millionaire at the time, so why not [have ambitions toward the throne]? ‘Why not me?’ And he’s a gangster – he’s very close to Trump. A smart gangster. He creates chaos and can emerge from chaos,” Scott told The Hollywood Reporter.

“Gladiator II” hits theaters Friday and also stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger.

“He’s trying to use everybody. He’s using his mother, he’s going to use his children; he’s used his soul, so he has nothing left. He’s in bed with the devil,” Washington told the newspaper. about his character.

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The Hollywood Reporter also asked Scott about how he was working with Washington.

“We were in the middle of Harlem and Denzel was like, ‘You know what you’re doing?’ ‘Yes, I know what the f— I’m doing.’ ‘Do you know this music?’ ‘Yes, of course.’ When he saw that I knew what I was doing, he was very nice [Gladiator II],I think you are shocked by the scale. How can he be? “Yeah, I’m used to it,” Scott replied.

Washington recently opened his mouth during an interview with Esquire. He revealed that he drank two bottles of wine a day.

“Wine is tricky. It’s slow. It’s not, boom, all of a sudden,” said Washington. So, I’ll drink my ’61s and ’82s and whatever we had. Wine was my thing, and now I was shelling out $4,000 bottles because that’s what was left. “

Actor Denzel Washington, who plays Macbeth in the film, arrives at the premiere of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” at the DGA Theater on Thursday, Dec. 18, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

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During the premiere of “Gladiator II”, Washington had a remarkable encounter with King Charles, as all the characters met him.

“I didn’t know if I should hold your hand or not,” Washington smiled as he shook Charles’s hand.

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Fox News’ Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.