Irish actor Paul Mescal reveals the vice he refused to give up while training for his role on Gladiator II: 'I was petrified they were going to take it away'

Paul Mescal revealed the two vices he refused to give up while training for Gladiator II, as he made an appearance on The Project on Thursday night.

The Irish actor, 28, who stars in the sequel of Russel Crowe's 2000 hit movie, underwent a gruelling workout routine to get fit for the leading role.

But the Normal People star said he couldn't bring himself to give up drinking or smoking while working on his ripped physique for the flick.  

'I was petrified that they were going to take away everything, like drinking and I smoke. Everything fun,' he said.

Paul went on to say he asked his fitness trainer Tim Blakeley to help him work drinking and smoking into his rigorous training regime.  

'I very earnestly was like, "Look, Tim, I'm going to keep drinking and smoking for a little bit if I can,"' Paul recalled.

'He very kindly incorporated them, not into the workout routine, but just into my life.'

Paul may have shot to fame for playing bookish Connell Waldron in Normal People back in 2020—but audiences saw him in a whole new light during Gladiator II.

The Irish actor was cast as Lucius in the sequel to Ridley Scott's original movie, which premiered in Australia on Wednesday night.

As a gladiator in the first movie, Russell Crowe, 60, boasted a muscular physique, and playing the lead in the sequel, Paul had to also build a heftier frame. 

Gladiator II takes place several decades after the first instalment, and features Lucius (the son of Connie Nielsen's Lucilla) who is now living in Numidia, a region of northern Africa.

Although he was sent to Numidia as a child, the film follows Lucius' return to Rome to reunite with his mother—and coming into conflict as he does so. 

Earlier this year, footage of Paul's Gladiator workout was widely circulated on TikTok and showed the actor doing dumbbell shoulder raises for a solid 23 seconds.

In an interview with Capital FM, Paul praised his 'great trainer' for helping him build his physique for the film as well as a team of nutritionists—who told him when and what to eat.

Sending a message to fans who looked up to his new build, Paul added: 'I had the best trainer in the world, a studio and a production supporting me through it...

'You have to make an audience believe that this is someone who would survive intensive violence throughout the film.

'And you're not going to survive that as someone whose running around Hackney.' 

Meanwhile, the star also told Entertainment Tonight that his workouts with trainer Tim involved plenty of squatting and 'lifting heavy things'. 

During filming, the star also claimed he was told to give up running in the months leading up to filming—as his team's focus was building muscle. 

He said during a video interview with ET: 'The closer we got to filming, I was allowed to run again!' 

Paul is known to be an active individual and has been pictured jogging around London countless times over the past four years.

On top of this, the star previously revealed that he loves going on walks too and is a keen boxer.