Gladiator II’s Fred Hechinger Enters His Imperial Phase

We’re riffing, but Hechinger immediately shifts into a more philosophical register when I ask what bonding with a monkey entails.

“One thing that I think we both had to learn was we’re not going to hurt each other, we can get along and literally coexist as one shared body almost,” he says. But, on a deeper level, he says he was inspired by Sherry to craft his own performance. “To always be looking to my left and have a front row seat to this beautiful creature that is inherently impulsive as well, and really crafty,” Hechinger explains. “I thought it was a kind of a cheat code to certain aspects of who the character is.”

Sherry was also a fearless improviser. Caracalla has a relationship with the scheming arms dealer Macrinus, played by none other than the legendary Denzel Washington. In one scene, the monkey jumps from Hechinger’s shoulder onto Washington’s.

Turtleneck by ERL. Jeans by Gucci. Ring by David Yurman.

“That was unplanned,” Hechinger says. “That comes from the brilliance of Sherry. I remember the moment after that take, everyone was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”

“A star is born in Sherry,” he adds, actually beaming.

Besides Ridley Scott’s appreciation of Beavis and Butt-Head, Hechinger was also surprised by how little pretense there was in working with him. He recalls the legendary director regaling him with stories about his life and career.

“I thought at first they were these veiled notes and morals,” Hechinger says. “Like he was telling me something about the character. And then a few weeks in I realized, ‘Oh, no, he’s just a really funny, lovely, interesting guy who can tell that I’m interested in him and wants to share things.’ In my mind, it was like I still had to prove myself to him or something. And then I was like, ‘Oh, no one wants that. We just need to do the work.’”

Sweater by Prada. Pants by Loewe. Ring by Eli Halili.

Having taken in our quota of historical chairs, we leave the museum and head into Central Park to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. Walking through the leaf-lined paths reminds Hechinger of something that made him want to become an actor: attending roving Shakespeare performances in this park with his mom. That, and something else helped him narrow it down.

“I’d watch Inherit the Wind and I’d say, ‘Oh, I want to be a lawyer.’ I’d watch Grey’s Anatomy with my mom, I’d say, ‘I want to be a doctor.’ I’d watch Ratatouille and I’d be like, ‘I want to be a chef,’” he says. And then I realized, “No, I don’t want to be any of those actual things. I want to play those things.”

Shoes by Birkenstock. Hat by Emily Dawn Long.

PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Phi Vu
Styled by Haley Gilbreath
Grooming by Jessica Ortiz
Tailoring by Ksenia Golub
Set Design by Suzy Zietzmann