Daisy Edgar-Jones Says Her ‘Twisters’ Workout Was Comparable to Paul Mescal’s ‘Gladiator II’ Transformation
Samantha Bergeson
Daisy Edgar-Jones turned training for “Twisters” into a competition with her fellow “Normal People” alum Paul Mescal.
While Mescal transformed into warrior Lucius for Ridley Scott’s sequel “Gladiator II,” Edgar-Jones had to learn how to properly run onscreen. That’s the same thing, right?
“I’m not good at running; like I have a weird run, which I was told as a kid. And for me, that was a big stunt — to try and make it look not pathetic,” Edgar-Jones told Variety. “I did running lessons — isn’t that crazy?”
She added, “Actually, Paul [Mescal] and I were laughing about it, because he was training for ‘Gladiator II’ and I was training for ‘Twisters,’ and obviously he had to be huge and I was like, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to be right up there with you.'”
Mescal previously told Vanity Fair that his “muscles start[ed] to grow, and that can be deemed aesthetic in certain capacities” but that the workouts helped prepare him “psychologically” for the role more so. “There is something about feeling strong in your body that elicits just a different feeling,” he said. “You carry yourself differently. It has an impact on you psychologically in a way that is useful for the film.”
He added to The Hollywood Reporter that his transformation isn’t the focus of the film, though.
“With films like this and superhero films, there is sometimes a focus on that, which I don’t find that interesting,” Mescal said. “Of course, there’s a physical robustness required for the character, but past that, I’m not interested. This guy’s got to fight and got to be a beast. And whatever that looks and feels like is right for me, is what it’s going to be. […] Sometimes I see films and I’m like, ‘That person doesn’t look real.'”
Regardless of his bulk, Mescal is still just a “Normal” person to Edgar-Jones. She referred to Mescal as “one of my lifetime best friends” to Variety, saying the “Gladiator II” star is “an incredibly grounded person.”
“We met when I was 20 and Paul was 22; I’m so excited to see where we’ll be at 32, 42, and what life will bring us,” Edgar-Jones said.
And as for her “Twisters” stunts, she can confirm there were no on set injuries but “just really bad hair.”
“I had a lot of stuff in my ears because things would blow in there,” she said. “They would have to give me these weird ear drops and fizz out all the dirt.”
