Paul Mescal reimagined Gladiator II into a musical sensation during his Saturday Night Live debut, and yes, you read that correctly.
“Gladiator II is a hit, earning over $300 million worldwide, but then we saw the massive success of Moana 2 and Wicked,” a voiceover announcer said during the Saturday, December 7, sketch. “So, after some rushed reshoots, Gladiator II is now … a musical.”
The voice continued, “It’s the same violent historical epic audiences have been raving about but with an extra 50 minutes of songs.”
Mescal, 28, costars in Gladiator II, a sequel to the 2000 film, alongside Pedro Mescal and Denzel Washington. The film dropped late last month on the same day as movie musical Wicked. A follow-up to Disney’s animated Moana, meanwhile, hit theaters several days later.
Mescal reprised his Gladiator II role on SNL for a prerecorded number. Alongside the variety show players, Mescal sang amidst the backdrop of the grueling Roman battles.
“There’s no place like Rome,” Kenan Thompson sang. “Swords and sandals / Whores and scandals / And empires stretching from East to West.”
Mescal concurred, chiming in, “Yeah, I think I’m gonna like it here.”
Paul Mescal NBC
The Normal People alum also got his own solo track, while his character checked his reflection in a sword.
“A look at me / And all they see / Is a killing machine,” Mescal belted. “But, they don’t know / That far below / I’m so much more than I see.”
He added, “They call me Gladiator / They call me slave / They call me a killer / But someday they’ll know my name. / I’m gonna stab my way to freedom / Cut my way to the next act / Now, while I’m in the Colosseum / When I go on the attack. / Someday, they’ll know my name.”
In addition to Mescal’s show-stopping soliloquy, the fake trailer included “a song for the women” (a.k.a. ballad sung by Jane Wickline, pretending to be one of the soldiers’ wives awaiting his safe return) and a Hamilton-style rap. (Lin-Manuel Miranda, who penned the Tony-winning Hamilton, also wrote the music for Moana but not its sequel.)
“Look at his little bits with his win in his cup,” Mescal said during a pretend rap battle with Mikey Day’s fictitious emperor. “Sit your ass down, put the thumb up.”
Mescal and Day, 44, then challenged one another to a “floss” dance competition.
Paul Mescal Rosalind OíConnor/NBC
The trailer, naturally, also pays homage to Wicked itself with Mescal riding a broomstick and wearing a classic witch hat. He belted out Cynthia Erivo’s “Defying Gravity” high note while singing the line, “No place like Rome” to conclude the skit.
Saturday’s episode also featured musical performances by 2025 Grammy nominee Shaboozey and a surprise cameo from social media star Trisha Paytas, who played herself in a sketch about the 2024 Spotify Wrapped list.
Elsewhere in the episode, Mescal used his monologue to discuss his penchant for filming dramatic and nude scenes. Another highlight occurred when Mescal and the men SNL played pirate-themed entertainers at a bachelorette party. (And yes, Mescal did briefly rip open his shirt at the end.)
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
