Skip to main content
News

Denzel Washington responds to criticisms over Gladiator 2 accent

Washington has been criticised for using his regular voice in the film.
Alex Hopley Editor UK 16 September 2024

Denzel Washington has a unique voice. It's one of the many reasons why he has become such a well-known actor, but Gladiator 2 trailer viewers were less than excited to hear it alongside Paul Mescal's British accent and Pedro Pascal's Oberyn-esque flair.

Speaking with Empire (via DigitalSpy), Washington opened up about his accent, and how he didn't want to do an imitation. "Well, the thing was, where are we?" he said. "Whose accent would it be? What does that sound like anyway? You're going to end up imitating someone and end up with a bad African accent."

Washington will undoubtedly be a star in this movie, whether fans of the original care for his voice or not. It's not exactly like Paul Mescal sounds like your average Roman boy, what with his usual Irish tones swapped out for an English voice.

Editor UK Alex Hopley covered the video game industry for Gamereactor, from new announcements and launches to the business behind them. He also wrote on tech, film and entertainment, and his coverage wasn't tied to any one region.
Full profile Gamereactor author since 2023 · 9,411 published articles
Why trust Gamereactor
23 Editions Each with its own newsroom and its own scores.
1998 Publishing since Independently owned for the whole of it.
100% Hands-on Written from time with the game, never press material.
1–10 Network Score Every edition’s score, averaged and shown.