Gladiator 2 star Paul Mescal 'convinced' he's 'not going to live a long life' in candid admission

Gladiator || star Paul Mescal has said he's 'convinced' he's 'not going to live a long life' after opening up in a candid interview.

Mescal is about to star in the second Gladiator movie which will hit cinemas across the US on November 22.

The film stars the 28-year-old actor as Lucius alongside The Last Of Us’ Pedro Pascal, 24 years after Russell Crowe’s OG Gladiator premiered.

Meanwhile, the actors are also being joined by Denzel Washington, whose character is described as a power broker who minds a stable of gladiators.

Ahead of the movie dropping, Mescal spoke to GQ about his latest role - and the whirlwind four years since he arrived on our screens as Normal People's Connell Waldron.

Speaking about his different film and TV roles, Mescal made a candid admission, explaining that he's always thought he would 'die young'.

Discussing the idea of 'thinking ahead' Mescal said he's never imagined living a long life.

“I’ve always been convinced that I’m not going to live a long life,” Mescal told GQ.

“People have this response, but in my head it’s never been drastic. It’s just like a gut feeling. And maybe it’s to do with the fact that I can’t visualise myself as an 80-year-old man.

Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal alongside Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal (Universal Pictures)

“But I’m also afraid of death. So I think if death was to come for me at 55, I’d be equally afraid of it as I would be at 90.

“It’s always in my head. I was like, Going to have a family young. I’m going to not survive a long time. Hopefully, I’m wrong. I think I will be wrong. But that’s just the truth around my brain.”

Last week, a clip of Mescal on The Graham Norton Show went viral after a conversation among the guests led to actor Saoirse Ronan silencing the entire sofa with one sentence.

Ronan was joined on the famous couch by Mescal, Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington.

Speaking about the preparation for his latest role in the series, The Day of the Jackal, Redmayne explained how he was taught how to use his mobile phone as a weapon.

A picture really does hold a thousand words (BBC/ The Graham Norton Show)

He noted rather than whipping it out to dial 999, he was shown how to use the physical phone to do some damage to someone by whacking it against someone's throat.

Mescal then joked: "Who's actually going to think about that though? If someone attacked me I'm not going to go, 'Phone'."

The Normal People actor's comment received an outpouring of laughter from Redmayne alongside the audience.

However, having tried to interject multiple times, Ronan was finally able to comment: "That's what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?"

Cue moments of widened eyes and total silence.

Reflecting on the moment, Ronan told Virgin Radio UK's Ryan Tubridy: "The reaction has been wild. It's definitely not something that I had expected [...] But I do think there's something really telling about the society that we're in right now and about how open women want to be with the men in their lives.

"So many men and women that I know from all over the world have gotten in touch with me about this one comment."