
Actor, author, screenwriter and director, Alexander Karim took time to hang with Over the Shoulder to talk about his experience playing the role of Ravi in Ridley Scott’s new blockbuster GLADIATOR II.
The character Ravi, ex gladiator turned healer in the Colosseum, is a pivotal role as he is the moral compass for Lucius and the entire movie. Over the Shoulder was lucky to speak to the actor who portrayed him so effectively, gaining insight into the methods he used to bring Ravi to life and his time on the production.
Ravi was my favourite character, so it was especially exciting to get to interview Alexander.
Okay, quiet on the set and ACTION,
Congratulations on your role-playing Ravi in Gladiator II. You gave the movie real heart, what attracted you to the character and were you a fan of the original movie?
I was a huge fan of the original movie. I was 23 or 24 when it came out. I think that every person of that age feels like Maximus, whether you’re a man, woman, boy, girl, whatever you are.
You come out of school and the whole world is out there and you’re thinking, “how am I going to climb this mountain? How am I going to defeat this empire?” It just seems insurmountable.
Being from a family of filmmakers we’ve loved Ridley since we could crawl, me and my brothers. Alien was the first behind the scenes movie we ever saw, and Blade Runner was on repeat at my house. It’s a Ridley household and so getting that phone call was insane.
It was truly a dream come true.

Ravi is a gladiator turned medic who helps to heal Lucius’s Rages. How did you prepare for the role of fighter turned healer?
What I focused on was that Ravi had decided early on in his fighting career that once he became free, he would dedicate himself to what’s worth fighting for in life.
If you look at all the characters in Gladiator II, everybody’s fighting for money or they’re fighting for fame or they’re fighting for power. Ravi’s fighting to protect his children and his wife from the evil that is the Roman empire at that time. So, all he’s fighting for is safety and love.
I believe when Ravi says, “what we do in life echoes in eternity”, he’s not talking about these statues are going to echo in eternity or the power that you build is going to last. The eternity that he’s talking about is your children and their children and their children after that. What we do in life does echo in eternity for him.
If you look at it that way, it’s the idea of not just laying down your sword but realizing that you could choose to. He’s still a fighter. He still fights. It’s not a physical fight, it’s an emotional fight.
Do you have to make any adjustments as an actor when playing a historical role?
I try to never look at it as an historic role, because people were people a hundred years ago, a thousand years ago even 50,000 years ago. Everybody had the same needs, the same wants. Once you’ve met your physiological needs of food and shelter, then from that point on, you’re like, “I’d like someone to like me. I want to have some friends; I want to have some fun.”
I try to think away from the fact I’m this historical character and saying to myself, “I bet they acted like this back then.” They’re just people. Lucius is just a kid who’s lost his family, needs a friend and I wanted to be that friend.

Most of your scenes were with Paul Mescal. What was it like working with him. you seemed to have great chemistry together?
I absolutely loved working with him. Paul has this thing that you only see once or twice every generation. You could see it in a young Brando. You can see it in a young De Niro.
It’s that ability to be hard and soft at the same time. He can play both those sides.
One of the nicest people on planet earth, he’s just the humblest and the most fantastic scene partner that you could ever want. Whatever you throw out there, he’s going to throw it back. You could just try things and there’s no stepping on anybody’s toes. There’s no ego. It’s all about go in and do what we do.

I know Denzil Washington is a hero of yours, were you gutted you didn’t have any scenes with him? Or are they on the cutting room floor?
When I first read the script, I thought, “Oh, no scenes with Denzel.” Then when I saw him, I was fairly happy that I didn’t have any scenes. It’s Denzel Washington! I never get nervous for anything. I don’t have the ability to get nervous for some reason. But, if someone said you had this three-page monologue or three-page scene with Denzel, I’d find out quick what it feels like to be nervous!
To me, I’ve had a picture of him on my wall since I was 15 and I have one still to this day.
Having a scene opposite him would be kind of nerve wracking. I am happy with my scenes.
Gladiator II was directed by the legendary Ridley Scott. Did his directing style differ from other directors you have worked with?
You know that someone’s a master when they just know what they want. They give you all these little details that they need to give you, then they just let you go. They don’t just let you loose; they open the doors to the arena and just say go.
And if you’ve done the casting the way you want, which he obviously has because it’s Ridley Scott, and you’ve set the stage the way you want, you’ve built everything, you’ve got all the right costumes, all the right actors, all the right everything, then all you need to do is say, “now go.”
You have that intense feeling of freedom working with him. He knows what he’s planted inside of you to have that freedom. So, you think you’re free, but you’re just doing exactly what he wants!
But you’re feeling completely free. It’s the best way to work.

Ridley is known for big budget action and special effects films. How does he help actors find the truth of their characters given the distractions of a huge production?
He takes the idea of the big, huge production away from you and makes it feel like you’re just here to have fun.
Everybody knows what they’re doing, it takes all the pressure off you.
Which is a great way to put everybody at ease.
I could suggest a small idea such as, “what if I’m smoking a pipe?” Ridley would be, “All right, perfect. Give him a pipe, let’s try it.” So, you’re just playing around, it’s the best possible way. It’s like a student film, but a 300-million-dollar student film.
So, you have that freedom of exploration which you rarely get on productions this size.
Is there a question that you wished an interviewer would ask but they never do?
My wife’s a journalist and she thought of a question today that she was going to ask someone.
The question was, “when was the last time you lied?” I loved that question because the answer just automatically calls for a lie, but at the same time, if you’re honest, it doesn’t call for a lie. I think that’s a beautiful question.
Is it very different working in Sweden to Hollywood?
We don’t have trailers in Sweden. The first time I saw a one, I was, “wow, I’m not going to sit in a trailer, I’m going to sit with the rest of the crew, and I had a trailer of my own sitting there!”
I thought, “maybe I’ll just go in and look at it for a minute just to see what this trailer thing is.” After that first time I didn’t come out of the trailer! There’s a fridge, there’s food and a TV. What’s not to like! There’s even a bed.
There’s a huge difference working in Sweden. Swedish productions are a lot smaller in scope, but at the end of the day wherever you are, from student film to gladiator, to the eye of the lens everything looks the same. The marker looks approximately the same wherever you are and someone’s going to hit that marker.
Everybody’s going to go quiet, and some voice is going to say ACTION!
Thank you so much Alexander for telling us your story and hopefully we can catch up with you in the future to find out other exciting projects you are working on. It was an honour and pleasure to spend some time with you.
Can’t wait to ask you next time, when the last time you lied was!!!
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