I'm older and I just know more: Connie Nielsen on coming back for 'Gladiator II'

Danish star Connie Nielsen remembers throwing her all to play Lucilla in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" as it was her career's first big movie but when she got a chance to step into the role again after two decades, the actor felt she could slip into the many layers of the character with more comfort. The 59-year-old actor said when Scott and his team first told her about the idea of the sequel, they promised that "Connie will be happy". "I knew it was going to be good. I love the whole setup of the story. It's an incredible setup.

And for an actor, the way they wrote Lucilla and put her into situations that are unimaginable and crazy, and at the same time, grand, it was a great setup for her," Nielsen told PTI in a virtual interview. Nielsen has fond memories of her early years in Hollywood where she debuted with the 1997 movie "The Devil's Advocate", starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. She was cast in "Gladiator" just two years later. "It was my first big movie and I threw everything that I could. And I think this time I have reached a place as an actor and as a human where I feel very comfortable inside of many layers at the same time.

I felt like I was able to play at more levels in this film than perhaps in the first one because I'm older and I just know more," she added. In "Gladiator", Lucilla was introduced as the daughter of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the sister of Commodus, who becomes the king of Rome after committing patricide. She and Russell Crowe's Maximus, a Roman generalturned- gladiator, are seeking to overthrow Commodus. And in the second part, set two decades later, it is revealed that Lucilla's son Lucius, played by Paul Mescal, was fathered by Maximus. She sends Lucius away to protect him from palace intrigue but is once again caught between her maternal instincts and her duty towards Rome. Nielsen said this time around, she could trust herself more with the role. "There's something wonderful that happens when you get to a certain age as a woman. You kind of realise that there's a part of you that is whole and amazing and you can trust it. And I kind of felt like that when I was doing the character this time around." The actor, also known for starring in movies such as "Mission to Mars", "Wonder Woman" and "Nobody", referred to the 2003 book "Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic" by author Tom Holland to understand the empire as well as its administration, the political strife and the specific cultural life of Romans.