The Gladiator movie from 2000 was one of the most epic masterpieces ever made, delivering the ultimate cinematic experience that could never be replicated in any other movie. In fact, even actress Connie Nielsen, who played the iconic Lucilla in the original film and would be returning in the sequel, couldn’t help but admit just how irreplaceable that action/adventure piece of work is.
According to what Nielsen shared from her experience of working on the movie, lead performers Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix left no stone unturned throughout their time playing Maximus and Commodus respectively. If anything, Nielsen feels that their portrayal coupled with sheer determination is proof that recreating the 2000 smash-hit would indeed be an incredibly tough task!
Connie Nielsen is All Praise for 2000’s Gladiator‘s Lead Stars
Back when Gladiator was released in 2000, Crowe was seen stepping in as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the widely celebrated Roman general, and Phoenix was seen portraying the son of the late Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Commodus. Adding to this cast was Connie Nielsen, who played Lucilla — the gorgeous sister of Commodus as well as Maximus’ former lover.
During an appearance on Collider Ladies Night, Nielsen let out how truly baffled she was to have worked with Russell Crowe and Phoenix on this respective masterwork. Not only did the way this pair worked leave her absolutely thrilled, but she also couldn’t help but point out just how enriching this practice of the two masterminds made the scenes.
As she said in the interview about sharing the screen with them (via Collider):
The experience of working with such thrilling actors like Joaquin and Russell is something that just so enriches any scene. You just never know exactly what they’re gonna do and that’s the best feeling.
That’s not all: Joaquin Phoenix and Crowe were so determined with this movie in their unpredictableness that they eventually delivered one of the best performances of their lives. As Nielsen further explained:
Like when you’re with an actor who really just doesn’t give a f**k about whether it’s gonna be too out there but just goes and has such courage and is never gonna be predictable, that is like a true gift when you’re doing great scenes like that.
This unpredictableness came even more in handy when the cast had to work with constant script changes, leading to them regularly practicing different scenes than what they originally thought they would. Even then, all three of them managed to ace it while working on the film considering just how massive of a masterpiece it ended up becoming.
Connie Nielsen Feels “Privileged” To Have Worked On Gladiator
During the same interview, Nielsen further shed light on how their lead cast was so deeply invested in what they were doing that they didn’t really think for once that this film would actually launch their respective careers to extraordinary heights. That said, she also emphasized how privileged it felt to her to have worked on this piece — something they didn’t quite acknowledge back then.
As per what Nielsen continued to say:
I don’t think that any of us really understood – we could feel that it was something special, but I don’t think we understood just how privileged we were to be on there. We were so busy complaining about the four pages of new script changes that we got every morning, and we were just really working so hard to make that vision come alive, you know? And we were all super deeply invested in it.
Adding to this, she further elaborated that the one thing that mattered the most to them on that movie’s sets was the way in which they were going to tell the story. She said:
I don’t think that I was thinking in terms of career-making or anything like that. I didn’t have a mindset like that. It was all about the story. It was all about the story and how we were telling that story that mattered to us.
All of this being brought out and about into the light, it is indeed unarguable that the original crew worked extra hard to make the original movie a masterpiece. That being acknowledged, recreating the movie and delivering a similar effect wouldn’t be an easy task, for sure.
But now that the sequel is right around the corner, fans will soon find out for themselves if Gladiator II actually leaves the same mark behind as the original film did.
Gladiator II is set for a release date of November 22, 2024. In the meantime, you can watch Gladiator (2000) on Netflix.
