Hollywood Legend Says 'Clever Gangster' Trump Was Inspiration for 'Gladiator II' Character
Love him or hate him, people can’t seem to stop talking — and thinking — about President-elect Donald Trump.
He elicited a wide range of reactions when he decisively won the 2024 election on Nov. 5.
From unbridled rage to unadulterated celebration, Trump’s big win ran the gambit of emotions.
Apparently, that includes “inspiring,” at least according to Hollywood auteur Ridley Scott.
The 86-year-old British director — known for major blockbusters like “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator” (and even less well-received movies like “Napoleon“) — revealed the inspiration behind one of his key characters in the forthcoming sequel to “Gladiator.”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott opened up about how the 45th and 47th President of the United States helped characterize Macrinus, portrayed by Denzel Washington in “Gladiator II.”
“[Macrinus] was a prisoner of war — probably at a North African state — and actually was taken to Rome probably as a gladiator,” Scott explained. “Survived. Got free. Got into the business of maybe making wine and bread.
“He evolved into a very rich merchant selling s*** to the Roman armies — food, oil, wine, cloth, weapons, everything. He maybe had a million men spread around Europe. So he was a billionaire at the time, so why wouldn’t he [have ambitions toward the throne]? ‘Why not me?’
“He’s also a gangster — very close to Trump. A clever gangster. He creates chaos and from chaos he can evolve.”
To be clear, both Scott and Washington are interpreting Trump’s “gangster”-ness as a net negative.
“He’s trying to use everybody,” Washington said of Macrinus. “He’d use his mother. He’d use his own children; he’s already used up his soul, so he didn’t have any left. He’s in bed with the devil.”
“Gladiator II,” the highly-anticipated sequel to 2000’s “Gladiator,” has been facing an uphill public relations battle for some time now, and it’s got nothing to do with Trump.
Rather, a number of historians have taken issue with the sequel film, including one who called the whole thing “total Hollywood bulls***,” according to the Reporter.
Dr. Shadi Bartsch ripped into the early trailers for “Gladiator II,” taking issue with a number of Hollywood contrivances seen in them.
Bartsch took issue with the portrayal of sharks in the film (Romans would never have seen them), as well as the fact that the movie used the wrong sorts of rhinoceros in its filming.
The Reporter also pointed out that one “of the most eyebrow-raising anachronisms involves the scene in which a Roman noble is shown sipping tea in a cafe while reading the morning newspaper … 1,200 years before the invention of the printing press.”
“They did have daily news — Acta Diuma — but it was carved and placed at certain locations,” Bartsch explained. “You had to go to it. You couldn’t hold it at a cafe. Also, they didn’t have cafes!”
“Gladiator II” is currently in theaters.
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