Denzel Washington has been talking about his plans to retire from films for a while now. At the American Black Film Festival earlier this year, while talking about his film, titled The Piano Lesson, with his family in various capacities, the actor said that he would be seen less often in cinema. He has reiterated the same idea in a recent conversation with Empire.

"There are very few films left for me to make that I’m interested in, and I have to be inspired by the filmmaker, and I was tremendously inspired by Ridley," Washington said about Gladiator II. He went on to add, "We had a great go-round the first go-round and here we are. He’s engaged. He’s excited about life and his next film. He’s an inspiration. We should all want to feel like that at 86.”

Washington stars in the Gladiator sequel as a so-called Roman powerbroker named Macrinus. The film stars Paul Mescal as a grownup Lucius, who gets into the Coliseum after seeing his uncle Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) killing Maximus (Russell Crowe).

Gladiator II is slated for a November 22 release.