Denzel says his Gladiator II gay kiss was cut: "I think they got chicken"

From the first moment its trailers arrived on the internet, it was pretty clear that Denzel Washington wasn’t bothering with restraint when it came to his performance in Ridley Scott’s blood-on-sand sequel Gladiator II. As power broker/revolution fomenter/serious ring wearer Macrinus, Washington was giving something very close to the Full Denzel right from the jump, firing menace and charisma at the camera as few modern actors can. Turns out, though, that not everything Washington put into his performance will end up on the screen when the movie opens in the U.S. next weekend, after showing up in the U.K. this week: “I actually kissed a man in the film,” Washington said in an interview with Gayety that popped up online a few weeks back, “But they took it out, they cut it, I think they got chicken.”

(We will also note that Washington appears to be having a pretty good time on this junket, poking fun at the idea that co-star Paul Mescal is too “sweet” to be mean to, and noting that he’s been in talks for possible collaborations with Paul Thomas Anderson, Steve McQueen, and Ryan Coogler.)

Per Variety, the conversation about the kiss was prompted by a moment in the film’s script where it’s noted that Macrinus has had a same-sex relationship in the past, leading to the question: “How gay was the Roman empire?” Washington, for his part, seems genuinely bummed to have the moment cut out of the movie, saying, “I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later. It’s Gladiator. It’s the kiss of death.” He also didn’t clarify who the “they” in these statements was; he effuses enthusiastically about Scott, and has previously said the director is the main reason he decided to sign on for the film, so it’s not clear which unnamed forces the actor blames for keeping us from seeing Denzel Washington murder-smooch a man.