Gladiator IIis in theatres now, taking audiences by storm.
A sequel to the 2000 film Gladiator, Ridley Scott is back at the helm with a star-studded cast featuring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Alexander Karim.
I had the fantastic opportunity to speak with Karim about the portrayal of his character, Ravi, his feelings about being cast in the sequel, working in various genre TV series and films, and much more!
Check out the full interview with Alexander Karim below:
As a lifelong fan of Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington, Karim expressed that working on Gladiator II was a full-circle moment, and something he couldn’t wait to share with his brothers.
“Well, let me take you back, Britany, to when I was – I mean, I’m probably four years old, and me and my brothers we’re all filmmakers, and we got our first behind the scenes movie, and that was Alien – Ridley Scott’s film. From that moment on, we were all hooked, right? My brothers today, they’re directors and I’m an actor. We had Blade Runner on repeat in my house. We loved Ridley from day one until now, and so I hadn’t told them that I auditioned for Gladiator because, you know, you don’t want to jinx anything. And when I got it, and I called my wife, and she screamed and cried, but calling my brothers, that was a moment. That was one of those moments where you’re just like, ‘I gotta call my brothers now.’ And I remember this moment, and I got to tell them that I got a part in Ridley’s movie.”
Karim continued, “It was such a full circle moment that and the fact that I’ve had pictures of Denzel Washington on my wall since I was 15, in every household that I’ve lived in, I’ve had a picture of him on my wall because he’s the reason I wanted to become an actor. And so it’s such a full circle moment, getting that call.”
In regards to working alongside Washington, Karim said that although their characters didn’t interact in any scenes together, watching him perform on set was inspiring.
“We didn’t have any scenes together. We passed each other in one scene. And I got to sort of because I couldn’t get out of the room when I made my exit, and I couldn’t get out, so I had to stand there, and sort of looked over my shoulder, and you’re not supposed to look over your shoulders to look at other actors and scenes, but sort of tried to get a little peek. And the guy is touched by God. There’s no other way to put it. And standing, you know, eight feet away from him, looking at him right in his craft, just performing. Every moment is fresh. Every moment is new. Every take is a new world. It was inspiring. I mean, absolutely inspiring. I was as inspired of watching him on set that one day as I was looking at that picture of him as Malcolm X on my wall when I was 15, saying, ‘I hope I can do that one day.'”
Karim’s character Ravi is an integral one in the film, and, as such, I wanted to know what it was like portraying him and creative freedoms in creating the character’s intricacies or pulling from anything in particular to shape Ravi for the big screen.
“The great thing about Ridley is he’ll create a whole world. He’ll build all the sets, he’ll do everything. He’ll help you get all the right clothes and the right wig and, you know, discuss the beard. And then, after all that was done, he said, ‘I think Ravi is like a character from Dickens. I want him to be Dickensian.’ And I knew exactly what he meant. I was like, ‘Say no more.’ I know exactly what we’re after. And so I’m East African. I’m from Uganda, and I wanted to find an East African Dickensian character who reminded me a little bit of my uncle, always with a little cheeky smile, always with that little devil in his eye.”
Karim is now stranger to amazing sets, having worked on shows like The Wheel of Time prior to Gladiator II. However, even he was stunned by the sheer grandness of it all.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for Gladiator II. It’s bigger than anything anybody. I mean, I walked on, and I heard Denzel said that this is the biggest set that he’s been on. If it’s the biggest set Denzel has been on, it’s definitely the biggest set that I’ve been on. I mean, it was massive. It’s thought-provoking, and it pulls emotions out of you that set.”