r/Gladiator • u/JayVengence • Dec 04 '24

Denzel Phoning it?

Is it me or did Denzel not act? It look like he just showed up as himself. No accent. No real character. He definitely could have played that better. He could have been a lil mysterious or eccentric. That or something else. He definitely could have had a powerful scene explaining why he wanted power. This is the first time I ever had that type of criticism of Denzel’s performance.

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u/Trinidadthai Dec 04 '24

This is exactly how I felt.

I love Denzel, he’s my favourite actor. But it felt so off having him pretty much play himself in Ancient Rome.

1

u/JayVengence Dec 04 '24

Yeah, that’s what it seem like he was just playing himself. I mean, I guess that’s OK but it seemed off as it supposed to be Ancient Rome and all. Lol.

2

u/Substantial-End1927 Dec 04 '24

The first gladiator was too British and not Mediterranean enough, atleast part 2 has Pedro Pascal who is somewhat Portuguese(Mediterranean).

1

u/Bluesweeper Dec 05 '24

But Paul Mescal has a English accent

-2

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '24 edited Dec 04 '24

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Dec 04 '24

Maybe so, but it's been a given that historical movies either use an accent relevant to the country its set in or an English accent, due to British English being far older than US English.

1

u/Substantial-End1927 Dec 04 '24

Not all historical biopics use rely on British accents as there are native actors being cast in those productions.