A WINNER HAS been crowned in the Paul Mescal lookalike competition, taking home a grand prize of €20 (or three pints).

The competition was held this afternoon in Smithfield Square in Dublin, with people donning GAA shorts and corded headphones to meet the Mescal look.

Jack Wall O’Reilly took home this prize.

The competition took place ahead of the Irish premiere of Gladiator II at the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield this evening, which Mescal is attending.

Paul Mescal visited Trinity College in Dublin today.

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Gladiator II, also starring Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, is a sequel to the 2000 hit Gladiator which featured Russell Crowe as its leading man. 

In the trailer, Mescal is shown in bloody battle with Pascal in the Colosseum, and also appears to be taken under the wing of Washington’s character. 

Gladiator II will be released in Irish cinemas on 15 November. 

A sequel to the original blockbuster was discussed as far back as 2001, and the film was finally announced in 2018, with Mescal being hired in the lead role last year. 

The film is set over two decades after the events of the original Gladiator film. 

Speaking to Today FM over the summer, Mescal said the film “picks the world of the first Gladiator up and plants it 20 years into the future”.

He said it has the “same energy and spirit of the first one” but that his character’s journey through Ancient Rome “couldn’t be more different” to that of Crowe’s character.

“It balances an honouring of the first film but is very much its own beast,” said Mescal. 

Mescal once starred in an advert for Denny’s sausages and told Today FM that “going from sausage ads to this wasn’t in the bingo card for me”.

“We’re kind of as a country punching far above our weight in terms of the output and long may it continue,” said Mescal, who added that he is overwhelmed by the support he receives from Irish people.

Mescal, who was a minor and under-21 Gaelic footballer for Kildare, also remarked that his GAA days helped in preparing for the Colosseum. 

“I’m well used to throwing myself around on a pitch and that was useful in the Colosseum of Ancient Rome for sure.”