There’s a rite of passage that comes for every actor after nabbing their first major action movie role—the all-important fitness footage release. Often posted by a personal trainer or on the star’s social media, a video of this kind hits smack dab in the middle of production—a buzzy teaser of the project to come, as well as an actor’s commitment to its physical demands. It’s a grand tradition that’s gained steam in recent years with Brie Larson doing dead lifts for Captain Marvel or Kumail Nanjiani getting jacked for Marvel’s Eternals. 

The world can now add a new face to these ranks: Paul Mescal, who in a newly-surfaced workout video can be seen getting swole for his role in Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator sequel, which is currently shooting in Europe.

“Gladiator was one of my favorite films growing up. It’s beyond strange,” Mescal told Vanity Fair in February of starring in a sequel to Scott’s 2000 epic. “This all feels more dumbfounding than the Oscar nomination, to be honest.” The 27-year-old actor, who earned his Oscar nod for Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun and an Emmy nod for Hulu’s Normal People, will play Lucius, the grown son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla. In addition to Scott, the sequel to the Oscar-winning epic is penned by David Scarpa (All the Money in the World), with Gladiator costume designer Janty Yates and production designer Arthur Max returning to the fold. 

Mescal told VF that prior to nabbing the part, he was on the hunt for a project that would allow him a change in physicality. “I was looking for something—it wasn’t actually to do with scale, but I wanted to pin my shoulders back and step into something a little bit more physical,” he explained. “Literally as I was formulating these thoughts, this came in. And I was like, Oh fuck. This is meant to be or something.” 

But while Mescal jumped headfirst into the arena, he’s already expressed trepidation about how his bulking up may steal focus. “With films like this and superhero films, there is sometimes a focus on that, which I don’t find that interesting,” he told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about his impending physical transformation. “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.”

Luckily for Mescal (and the rest of us), that video more than speaks for itself.