Fans of Moon Knight star May Calamawy are up in arms after learning that almost all of her scenes have been cut from the new blockbuster Gladiator 2.
The 38-year-old Egyptian-Palestinian actor became one of the breakout stars of Moon Knight after playing the dual role of Layla El-Faouly and Scarlet Scarab in the Marvel series.
Her casting in Ridley Scott’s long-awaited Gladiator sequel was first announced in May 2023.
At the time, Deadline reported that Scott had cast Calamawy after a lengthy search, writing: “While many of the leading roles were straight offers, Scott wanted to do a similar search he did for the Mescal part for the role that Calamawy ultimately landed.
“Given the importance of the character to the story, Scott wanted a thorough search, and following multiple auditions Calamawy landed the part.”
However, in the final cut of the film Calamawy is seen only briefly and she has no lines of dialogue.
The Independent has approached Calamawy and Scott for comment.
Earlier this month, a fan who claimed they saw Calamawy speak at London Comic Con posted on X/Twitter that the actor said, “although she’s sad her characters story didn’t make it to Gladiator 2, it was one of the best experiences of her life”.
She reportedly added that she “loved working with Denzel Washington and said it was the coolest and she felt immediately comfortable with him”.
This week, Gladiator 2 star Pedro Pascal posted a series of photographs on Instagram taken on location in Morocco, including several featuring Calamawy.
On X/Twitter, one fan commented about Pascal: “im glad he posted this because the way every other actor in the movie has been pretending for the whole press run that there wasn’t another cast member who was supposed to have a main role but had all her scenes cut from the movie... like they all pretending she doesn’t exist.”
Another fan posted pictures of Calamawy in costume, along with the caption: “may calamawy you will always be loved !!! they didn’t deserve you anyway.”
While another posted a disappointed gif captioned: “you had May Calamawy…and you decided to CUT her? This could’ve possibly been her breakout role!”
Calamawy can next be seen in the upcoming crime mystery The Actor, as part of an ensemble cast that also includes André Holland, Gemma Chan, Toby Jones and Tracey Ullman.
Gladiator 2 is out now in theaters.
