Paul Mescal ate a lot of chicken, lift heavy things to get ripped for 'Gladiator II'

Los Angeles, Oct 26 (IANS) Hollywood star Paul Mescal admits it was “fun” getting ripped to play Lucius in the upcoming historical epic, Gladiator II and had to “draw a line” on drinking and smoking.

"I ate a lot of chicken and lifted heavy things," Mescal said on “The Graham Norton Show”, reports people.com.

While preparing to play the former-royal, who was forced into slavery, the Kildare, Ireland, native worked "with a trainer who circled me like a shark and said, ‘There is a canvas to work with.' "

Mescal got so muscular that his co-star Pedro Pascal gave him a nickname.

"I call him Brick Wall Paul... He got so strong. I would rather be thrown from a building than have to fight him again," Pascal told Vanity Fair in July.

Mescal told Norton his trainer "went to town, and I saw him every day. It was fun."

However, Mescal said to have some caveats when it came to his fitness regimen.

"I did everything he asked, but I like to drink, and I like to smoke, so I drew a line in the sand where those were concerned."

Mescal flaunted his abs in the trailer for the film, where he fights a rhino, among others, in the famed Roman Colosseum.

But another of Norton's guests disagreed with Mescal’s assessment of working out being “fun” – Eddie Redmayne, who recently underwent his own physical transformation, getting shredded to play an assassin in the series “Day of the Jackal”.

“I profoundly disagree with Paul – it was not fun, it was horrendous,” said the actor.

"You read a scene in the script that says, ‘He is topless, sinuous and ripped,' and you think, 'Oh, here comes the chicken diet.' "

Saoirse Ronan and Denzel Washington, who also stars in Gladiator II, appeared on the episode as well. Mescal said that he was intimidated meeting the legendary Washington, 69.

"It was a big day in my life – it was amazing. I spent the first day thinking, 'I must go introduce myself to him' and I stood there for several minutes before I decide, 'Not today.' The next day I decided to be a brave boy!"