Paul Mescal and Fred Hechinger appeared to be in jovial spirits as they were seen enjoying a bite to eat while out in Sydney on Friday.
The Gladiator II co-stars are currently Down Under promoting their new movie and attended its star-studded Australian premiere on Wednesday night.
But they enjoyed some downtime exploring Sydney after their work duties as they got lunch at Paddy Chans Chinese restaurant in Kensington.
Irish actor Paul, 28, showed off his signature sense of style during the outing as he stepped out in an edgy beige checkered jumper.
He teamed his fashionable item with a white T-shirt and black jeans, while he completed his look with a pair of chunky black boots.
The Normal People star appeared to be in jovial spirits as he was seen laughing and joking with Fred, 24, outside the popular restaurant.
Fred, who plays villain Emperor Caracalla in Gladiator II, looked equally stylish in brown trousers and a black T-shirt, worn underneath an open white shirt.
He completed his smart outfit with a pair of black loafers as he avidly chatted to Paul, who takes on the starring role of Lucius in Gladiator II.
Paul Mescal and Fred Hechinger appeared to be in jovial spirits as they were seen enjoying a bite to eat while out in Sydney on Friday
They enjoyed some downtime exploring Sydney after their work duties as they got lunch at Paddy Chans Chinese restaurant in Kensington
While the pair appeared to enjoy a relatively low-key outing in the city, some nearby fans appeared to have spotted them and snapped photographs of the stars.
During his trip to Australia, Paul has spoken about how it felt to ‘lose’ his anonymity amid his stratospheric rise to fame in Hollywood.
Paul first rose to prominence alongside Daisy Edgar Jones in an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People and has since starred in an array of high-profile releases.
He has racked up credits in Aftersun, Foe and All of Us Strangers, and told GQ Magazine that though he misses his anonymity, he wouldn’t trade in his Hollywood career for anything.
‘I do miss anonymity, but I don’t miss a life before getting the opportunities that come with making films,’ he shared.
‘I love this job more than I miss anonymity, because I’m not naïve to assume that you can really have one without the other, mourning that is less useful.
‘Some parts of this life are, and will probably forever be, incredibly stressful and frustrating, but there are also parts of it where we get to sit here.
Irish actor Paul, 28, showed off his signature sense of style during the outing as he stepped out in an edgy beige checkered jumper and black trousers
The Gladiator II co-stars are currently Down Under promoting their new movie and attended its star-studded Australian premiere on Wednesday night (Paul is pictured at the premiere)
‘I make incredible friends through this job, and I work with people like Ridley Scott, so it’s all good.’
Paul is currently busy promoting the upcoming sequel to Russell Crowe’s smash hit 2000 movie Gladiator, in which he takes on the leading role.
Discussing filming the epic while in Australia, Paul admitted he couldn’t bring himself to give up drinking or smoking while working on his ripped physique for the role.
‘I was petrified that they were going to take away everything, like drinking and I smoke. Everything fun,’ he told The Project earlier this year.
Paul confessed that he asked his fitness trainer Tim Blakeley to help him work drinking and smoking into his rigorous training regime.
‘I very earnestly was like, “Look, Tim, I’m going to keep drinking and smoking for a little bit if I can,”‘ Paul recalled.
‘He very kindly incorporated them, not into the workout routine, but just into my life.’
As a gladiator in the first movie, Russell Crowe, 60, boasted a muscular physique, and playing the lead in the sequel, Paul had to also build a heftier frame.
Earlier this year, footage of Paul’s Gladiator workout was widely circulated on TikTok and showed the actor doing dumbbell shoulder raises for a solid 23 seconds.
Fred plays villain Emperor Caracalla (pictured) in Gladiator II, the upcoming sequel to Russell Crowe’s smash hit 2000 movie Gladiator
Paul underwent a gruelling workout routine to get fit for the leading role and worked with a team of trainers to build up his muscular frame
During filming, Paul claimed he was told to give up running in the months leading up to filming because his team’s focus was building muscle.
In an interview with Capital FM, Paul praised his ‘great trainer’ for helping him build his physique for the film as well as a team of nutritionists — who told him when and what to eat.
Gladiator II takes place several decades after the first instalment, and features Lucius (the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla) who is now living in Numidia, a region of northern Africa.
Although he was sent to Numidia as a child, the film follows Lucius’ return to Rome to reunite with his mother—and coming into conflict as he does so.
