May Calamawy's scenes cut from Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II"
May Calamawy didn't have much luck. After the series "Moon Knight," her next role was supposed to be in the film "Gladiator II." However, Ridley Scott cut scenes featuring the actress.
In a recent interview, Ridley Scott admitted that his director's cut of "Gladiator II" was over four hours long. It may be released in a special edition of the film, which is already quite lengthy. Because of this, Scott had to remove a considerable amount of footage—we have already discussed the removal of a scene involving Denzel Washington kissing another man. The actor stated that this moment is not in the film because viewers and creators weren't ready for it. It now turns out that not just one, but several scenes featuring actress May Calamawy were cut during editing. Various theories have emerged about this.
May Calamawy removed from "Gladiator II"
News about May joining the cast of the sequel to the 2000 hit was already circulating in the media in the spring of 2023. Interestingly, the website ScreenRant reported that May might play the role of Empress Geta. We now know that this role didn't go to her, as the film features two Roman rulers - Geta and Caracalla, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, respectively. Nevertheless, Calamawy must have been given some role in the new "Gladiator." Pedro Pascal recently shared many private photos from the set of the blockbuster, and in a few of these pictures, he can be seen alongside May.
There are several theories online as to why the actress is not in the film's final version. One theory suggests that the studio wanted to avoid potential controversies related to casting an actress of Palestinian-Egyptian descent. Another suggests that Calamawy might have played a doctor in the Colosseum, caring for wounded gladiators and having a romance with Hanno, the main character. There's also an opinion circulating that perhaps Ridley Scott didn't want to distract viewers too much from the main plot and replaced the female doctor character with healer Ravi, who appears in the final version.
Calamawy confirmed that she was part of "Gladiator II." At the London Comic Con, the actress reportedly admitted that acting alongside Denzel Washington was like a dream come true for her and that she fondly remembers the time on the set of the successful film.
