‘No Place Like Rome’: Watch Paul Mescal Defy Gravity In ‘Gladiator II’ Musical On ‘SNL’

“Gladiator II” star Paul Mescal slayed his way through songs while handling “SNL” hosting duties this weekend as the show imagined what Ridley Scott’s historical epic would be like if the film was a musical.
Mescal reprised his role as Lucius Verus Aurelius in the musical sketch as he sang with “SNL” cast members Kenan Thompson (who portrayed Denzel Washington’s character Macrinus) and Bowen Yang, who played Pfannee in “Wicked.”
“There’s no place, no place like — Rome,” sang Mescal as he wore Elphaba’s witch hat and flew on a broomstick while belting out a “battle cry” similar to “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo’s riff in “Defying Gravity.”
Elsewhere in the musical sketch, Mescal is seen fighting in the Colosseum while he makes a musical declaration: “someday they’ll know my name.”
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“I’m going to stab my way to freedom, cut my way to the next act. Now while I’m in the Colosseum when I go on the attack, someday they’ll know my name,” sang Mescal as he sliced off attackers’ heads and stabbed one in the chest.
“SNL” promised the same violence audiences expect out of the film but with “an extra 50 minutes of songs” as well as numbers by Lin-Manuel Miranda (played by Mikey Day), who broke out into a “Hamilton”-like song in the sketch.
Check out more of the “SNL” trailer for the “Gladiator II” musical below.

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