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Today brings a perfect casting story for St Patrick's Day: Barry Keoghan is set to join fellow Irishman Paul Mescal in Gladiator 2. 

According to Deadline, Keoghan is in talks to play an Emperor called Geta in director Ridley Scott's sequel to his 2000 blockbuster. Mescal was cast in January as Lucius, a character who is said to be "heavily influenced" by Russell Crowe's gladiator from the original film, Maximus. As a boy, Lucius watched Maximus save the life of him and his mother.

Keoghan is coming off an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA win for his performance in Martin McDonagh's black comedy movie, The Banshees of Inisherin. He was one of five Irish actors up for Oscars this year, including Mescal, who was nominated for his performance in the poignant indie film Aftersun. 

Gladiator 2 is Keoghan's second new project to be announced in recent weeks. He has also signed up to star in a biopic of notorious 19th-century outlaw Billy the Kid.

And we'll see him soon in Saltburn, a thriller film written and directed by Emerald Fennell, the showrunner of Killing Eve's second season. Fennell has assembled a crack cast for the movie that includes Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Jacob Elordi, and Carey Mulligan.

Are you getting excited for Gladiator 2?