Paul Mescal is spilling some royal tea.
The 28-year-old revealed he didn’t anticipate meeting King Charles III at the “Gladiator II” premiere in London last week.
“Never met the king [before that night],” Mescal told Variety in a video posted on X Monday. “It’s definitely not something that I thought was in the bingo cards. I’m, like, Irish, so it’s not kind of on the list of priorities.”
However, the actor noted it is “an amazing thing for Ridley [Scott] because I know how important that is for him. So to see his film celebrated in that context was pretty special.”
On Wednesday, Mescal greeted the British monarch at the Odeon Lux theater in Leicester Square, alongside Ridley and fellow “Gladiator II” stars Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.
Describing the run-in, Mescal told the outlet, “I found it kind of hard to hear exactly what [Charles] was saying … so you’re just kind of nodding along and, just, smiling.”
“Gladiator II,” which hits theaters Friday, is set over two decades after the events of the original movie starring Russell Crowe.
Mescal plays Lucius Verus, the son of Crowe’s Maximus who is forced into slavery. He becomes a gladiator to earn his freedom, much like Maximus did in the first movie.
Mescal, meanwhile, was joined by girlfriend Gracie Abrams at the LA premiere. Although the Irish actor and the 25-year-old walked the red carpet separately, Mescal and the musician were very affectionate at the premiere’s after party.
The couple posed together for a photo shared to the movie’s official TikTok page.
Mescal and Abrams have been romantically linked since June when TMZ shared photos of the two eating in London. After stepping out again in August, a source told People that Mescal and Abrams were “hooking up and it’s still early stages.”
The “Aftersun” alum previously supported Abrams at her Radio City Music Hall concert in New York City last month. A source told the outlet that the actor and Abrams were “going strong” at the time.
