Vanity Scholarship: When you introduced the film on stage, you said that this film “completely changed my life.” How so?

Paul Mescal: It has changed the mechanics of my life. Ridley, when he wanted me to do it, I assume – I didn’t even talk to him about it – he would have had to fight for me, because I don’t have box office records. There’s a real generosity and a bullishness that he has with his taste, and I’m very happy that I was to his taste. But it’s not lost on me that if this movie does well, which I hope – and I think it will do well – being in a big studio tentpole movie just changes your life, and gives you certain opportunities. And that’s up to Ridley and essentially no one else.

The last time I interviewed you, you talked about how you love India and how you would love it forever. Now you’re doing this giant tentpole sequel. Why did you say, “I’m ready”?

It’s hard to describe, I think. I’m not really interested in making a big movie that I can’t see an opportunity to be in. That’s a matter of taste. It’s completely subjective. After watching the first one, and knowing that Ridley was going to be involved, and that he was describing the arc of the story to me, I thought, “This is the perfect opportunity for me.” Because it wasn’t that I didn’t want to make big films. I just didn’t feel like making big films that, in my opinion, didn’t have the content I wanted to spend my time on. This had both things.

Did you rewatch the original film after you were cast?

I’d say I saw it about three or four times growing up. Once I was cast, I thought I’d put this to bed until I finished the movie. I watched it again recently, and it’s just extraordinary. But I did something similar when I got thrown in A tram called Desire. I thought, “I’m not going to watch this because it’s not useful to me right now.”

It would loom large, I suppose.

I think it would actually be strangely negligent to the film you’re making, because it’s not your job to try to recreate. You’re trying to create – you’re trying to build something new and authentic. Of course it is informed by the first because of the lineage and inheritance, but that is in the writing.