Paul Mescal refused to meet Denzel Washington in Gladiator 2

Paul Mescal was afraid to meet Denzel Washington for the first time – so he took his cold feet and fled.

The Gladiator II Co-stars appeared The Graham Norton Show together on Friday, during which they revealed the uncomfortable details of their first encounter.

“The first day I actually worked with Denzel, he was up in the box and I was rolling around and fighting some monkeys or something,” Mescal remembers. “At the end of the day I thought, 'I have to go up and introduce myself to Denzel.'”

Mescal said he tried to talk himself into meeting the two-time Oscar winner. “I stood at the bottom of the stairs and stood there for a few minutes and said, 'Not today,'” he said Aftersun Star remembered. “So I jumped off and ran to my dressing room and said, 'Tomorrow I'm going to be a brave boy.'”

The next day the two actors finally crossed paths. “The second day I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and I thought, 'I just have to stay there,'” Mescal said. “And Denzel goes down and it was like, 'Oh God, here we go.' And he shook my hand and it just felt extraordinary.

Washington then teased Mescal and gave him some sage advice. “He looked at me for ages and said, 'Stop practicing, man,'” Mescal said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Washington praised his young co-star. “Let me say this: This kid delivers,” he said of Mescal. “I'm a pretty good actor. I'm serious, believe me. I saw it when Russell.” [Crowe, star of Gladiator] did it – he delivered. This kid delivered.”

Gladiator II begins almost two decades after the 2000s gladiatorfollows an adult Lucius (Mescal), who was sent away as a child for his protection after the events of the first film. In the sequel, Lucius returns to Rome as a gladiator after a marauding Roman army captures him, and he must fight to survive the horrors of the arena and the dirty politics of the city.

In a new interview with Weekly entertainmentMescal said that despite his positive experience working on his first blockbuster – with legends Washington and director Ridley Scott, no less – he neither wants nor expects it Gladiator II be the highlight of his career. “No, I would say that I am so ambitious that there is no end point,” he said. “It's never about making it.” It's not the way I did it Gladiator II and I say, “Okay, put your feet up, relax.” I have so much more that I want to do. As long as people continue to have me, I’m sure the blanket will keep moving to different places in the house.”

Washington also teased EW about his character in the sword-and-sandals epic. “All he had to do was sit there and know that he's the best in the world at everything, and that's what he thinks, and that's fun,” Washington said of his wealthy, ruthless arms dealer and gladiatorial fighter Macrinus. “He really didn’t have to do any hard work. The boys are fighting down there and are being chased by rhinos. I just sit in this tent and spin my cup.” That is Fun.”

Even though his character isn't as physically imposing as Mescal's (and he apparently didn't have to train as much), Washington noted that he had to train in a different way for the role. “[I didn’t have] “A whole lot of combat training, but I had to learn to hold my cup and lift my skirt when I step over things,” he told EW. “I had to learn to walk around in a dress.” I had to learn to walk in sandals. I stumbled a few times at the beginning, but I became one with my classmates.”

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Gladiator II hits theaters November 22nd.