Actor Denzel Washington‘s fans won’t get to see him kiss a man in his upcoming film “Gladiator II.” Washington revealed his gay kiss in a video interview with Gayety magazine. He said the scene was cut from the long-awaited sequel.
The Oscar winner stars in Ridley Scott’s film as Macrinus, a wealthy gay powerbroker in Rome who keeps a stable of male gladiators for sport.
According to Variety, the “Gladiator II” script mentions that Macrinus has been in relationships with other men in the past. This fact prompted Gayety to ask Washington: “How gay is the Roman empire?”
Washington responded: “I actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, they cut it. I think they got chicken. I kissed a guy full on the lips and I guess they weren’t ready for that yet.”
Despite being gay in the movie, Washington said his intimate moment with another man was the kiss of death. “I killed him about five minutes later. It’s ‘Gladiator.’ It’s the kiss of death,” he said.
Washington said Gladiator II is one of his final films. He’s not sure how many acting jobs he’s got left in him before he retires. Washington said he’s inspired by great filmmakers like Gladiator II director Ridley Scott.
“I have to be inspired by the filmmaker, and I was tremendously inspired by Ridley,” Washington told Empire magazine earlier this year.
“For me it’s about the filmmakers. Especially at this point in my career, I am only interested in working with the best,” he told Australia’s “Today” program. “I don’t know how many more films I’m going to make. It’s probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done.”