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 movie "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’s possible that this extended version may be released in a special edition of the film, which isn’t short to begin with. Due to this, Scott had to remove quite a bit of footage. We've already reported on the removal of a scene featuring Denzel Washington's kiss with another man. The actor stated that this moment isn’t in the film because viewers and creators weren’t ready for it. It has now emerged that not just one, but several scenes with 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 portal ScreenRant reported that May might play the role of Empress Geta. We now know that this role wasn’t hers, as the film features two Roman rulers – Geta and Caracalla, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, respectively. Nevertheless, Calamawy must have been assigned some role in the new "Gladiator." Pedro Pascal recently shared many private photos from the set of the blockbuster, and in a few of the pictures, he can be seen alongside May.
There are several theories online about why the actress isn’t in the film's final version. One suggests that the studio wanted to avoid potential controversies related to casting an actress of Palestinian-Egyptian descent. Another theory posits 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 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 her involvement in "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 her time on the set of the mega-hit.
