Paul Mescal’s ‘Gladiator II’ Performance Criticized, Russell Crowe’s Secretly Thrilled

Actor Paul Mescal thought he was a hotshot snaring the Gladiator II role, but cutting reviews have chopped the hunk down to size and sources tell The National ENQUIRER the star of the blockbuster first epic — Russell Crowe — is privately gloating.

Critics slammed the 28-year-old Irish actor as “a pale imitation of Crowe” who “doesn’t hold the screen” and described his performance as “shaky at best.”

Meanwhile, original sword-swinger Crowe, 60, nabbed an Oscar for his role as arena darling Maximus in the super-hit 2000 epic and whisperers are buzzing that he’s secretly thrilled Mescal couldn’t fill his sandals in the sequel.

“Russell doesn’t have anything against Paul personally, but when an actor struts around like a peacock and acts like an ass, it’s not a good look and deserves to be brought down a peg,” spills an insider.

“The way Russell sees it, Paul’s going to have to be humbler moving forward if he wants to be a long-lasting A-lister.”

While Gladiator II cost $240 million to make and grossed $400 million worldwide in its first month, it has a way to go to beat the original, which nabbed the equivalent of $800 million.

Meanwhile sources snitch G2 is a box-office hit thanks to the supporting cast like Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal and director-producer Ridley Scott.

“You have to say bravo to the movie’s team because they managed to make the movie a hit almost in spite of Paul’s performance, and it was a masterstroke to give Denzel Washington a central role,” notes the insider.

“That kind of worked as an insurance policy in case Paul wasn’t able to fully deliver the goods.”

Sources tattle that Mescal is “cocky” and “his goal was to totally eclipse Russell Crowe’s performance in the original film.

“But Paul failed at that objective,” the insider notes. “Still, the movie is a sizable financial hit and that means Paul will get another chance to shine in Sony’s big-budget Beatles film series, where he was tapped to play Paul McCartney.”

“But he needs to approach the next big opportunity with less arrogance and more focus than he brought to Gladiator II, where his fellow cast members kept stealing scenes out from under his tunic.”

Adds the insider, “Russell got a bad rap for his brash comments and coarse manner early in his career, but he’s learned to lighten up since then, and he hopes Paul takes notice!”