Paul Mescal cuts a stylish figure as he joins his Gladiator II co-star Fred Hechinger for a bite to eat in Sydney after Aussie movie premiere

Paul Mescal and Fred Hechinger appeared to be in a jovial mood as they grabbed a bite to eat in Sydney on Friday.

The Gladiator II co-stars are currently Down Under promoting their new film and attended the star-studded Australian premiere on Wednesday night.

But they enjoyed some free time to explore Sydney after work, having lunch at Paddy Chans Chinese restaurant in Kensington.

Irish actor Paul, 28, showed off his signature sense of style during the outing as he stepped out in a cool beige checked jumper.

He paired his fashionable piece with a white T-shirt and black jeans, while he completed his look with a pair of chunky black boots.

The Normal People star appeared to be in a jovial mood as he was spotted laughing and joking with Fred, 24, outside the popular restaurant.

Fred, who plays villainous Emperor Caracalla in Gladiator II, looked equally stylish in brown trousers and a black T-shirt, worn under an open white shirt.

He completed his smart outfit with a pair of black loafers as he chatted eagerly with Paul, who takes on the lead role of Lucius in Gladiator II.

They enjoyed some free time to explore Sydney after work, having lunch at Paddy Chans Chinese restaurant in Kensington

While the pair appeared to be enjoying a relatively quiet outing in the city, some fans nearby seemed to have noticed them and snapped photos of the stars.

During his trip to Australia, Paul spoke about what it felt like to ‘lose’ his anonymity amid his stratospheric rise to fame in Hollywood.

Paul first came to prominence opposite Daisy Edgar Jones in an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People and has since starred in a series of high-profile releases.

He has amassed credits in Aftersun, Foe and All of Us Strangers, and narrated GQ magazine that while he misses his anonymity, he wouldn’t trade his Hollywood career for anything.

“I do miss the anonymity, but I don’t miss living before having the opportunities that filmmaking brings,” he said.

‘I love this work more than I miss the anonymity, because I am not naive to assume that you can really have one without the other, grieving makes less sense.

“Some parts of this life are incredibly stressful and frustrating, and probably always will be, but there are also parts where we have to sit here.

Irish actor Paul, 28, showed off his signature sense of style during the outing as he stepped out in a cool beige checked sweater and black trousers

The Gladiator II co-stars are currently Down Under promoting their new film and attended the star-studded Australian premiere on Wednesday night (Paul is pictured at the premiere)

“I make great friends through this job and I get to work with people like Ridley Scott, so it’s all good.”

Paul is currently busy promoting the upcoming sequel to Russell Crowe’s 2000 smash hit film Gladiator, in which he stars.

Discussing the epic while in Australia, Paul admitted he couldn’t bring himself to quit drinking or smoking while working on his ripped physique for the role.

‘I was terrified that they would take away everything, like drinking and me smoking. All in good fun,” he told The Project earlier this year.

Paul admitted that he asked his fitness trainer Tim Blakeley to help him integrate drinking and smoking into his strict training regime.

“I said very seriously, ‘Look, Tim, I’m going to keep drinking and smoking for a while if I can,'” Paul recalled.

“He very graciously incorporated them, not into the training routine, but just into my life.”

As a gladiator in the first film, Russell Crowe, 60, had a muscular body, and while he starred in the sequel, Paul also had to build a sturdier frame.

Earlier this year, footage of Paul’s Gladiator training was widely circulated TikTok and showed the actor doing dumbbell shoulder movements for 23 seconds.

Fred plays the villainous Emperor Caracalla (pictured) in Gladiator II, the upcoming sequel to Russell Crowe’s 2000 film Gladiator

Paul underwent a grueling workout routine to get fit for the lead role, working with a team of trainers to build his muscular frame

During filming, Paul claimed he was told to stop running in the months leading up to filming as his team’s focus was on building muscle.

In an interview with Capital FMPaul praised his ‘amazing trainer’ for helping him build his physique for the film, as well as a team of nutritionists – who told him when and what to eat.

Gladiator II takes place a few decades after the first part and is about Lucius (the son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla) who now lives in Numidia, a region in North Africa.

Although he was sent to Numidia as a child, the film follows Lucius’ return to Rome to reunite with his mother – and finds himself conflicted in the process.