Denzel Washington could not help it as he briefly lost his cool when he was greeted by King Charles at at Gladiator II’s London premiere at the Leicester Square Odeon on Wednesday night.
The 69-year-old Oscar winner was joined by his costars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and Joseph Quinn, as well as director Ridley Scott, for a meeting with the premiere’s guest of honor, King Charles.
Charles greeted them one by one, but things took a decidedly awkward turn when it was Denzel’s opportunity to shake the royal’s hand.
‘I didn’t know if I was supposed to grab your hand,’ the actor stammered with a seemingly nervous look on his face.
In video of the awkward encounter, Charles appears to ask Denzel about playing the Roman emperor Macrinus.
‘I’m just, you know, an awful…’ he seems to say while trailing off, before adding, ‘I’m a lovely man you’ll see. I’m a lovely chap.’
He reiterated, ‘I’m a lovely chap, and doing my best,’ but Charles didn’t leave him hanging.
The royal moved on to shake hands with Pedro, but added a quick compliment to the Malcolm X star: ‘You’ve been in so many films — it’s fantastic.’
‘Thank you, thank you,’ Denzel replied graciously.
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Things were less awkward as Charles greeted the other actors, though they all looked similarly honored to meet him.
The king appeared to have a particularly animated, though brief, conversation with Ridley Scott at the start of the line.
Prior to King Charles’ arrival, Denzel was spotted out on the red carpet as he took some time to chat with fans ahead of the high-profile film premiere.
