How was Proximo's role in 2000's Gladiator completed after the passing of Oliver Reed? Twenty-one years since its release, Gladiator has stood the test of time as a historical epic, along with being one of director Ridley Scott's most widely acclaimed movies of his 21st century work. Russell Crowe rose to mainstream stardom as the Roman general turned gladiator Maximus, whose arrival in the Roman amphitheater places the vicious new Caesar Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) in trouble, with Maximus determined to avenge his family and Commodus unable to execute Maximus due to his popularity.
Oliver Reed portrayed Proximo in Gladiator, a former gladiator himself, now a wealthy slave-owner only interested in winning as much money as he can by taking his gladiators to fight in the Roman Colosseum. Proximo has a pivotal role in the film, assuring Maximus the path to his freedom is to "win the crowd", and ultimately begrudgingly helping Maximus aka "The Spainard" and his allies in their plot to dethrone Commodus. The 61-year old Reed tragically passed away during the making of Gladiator, and with a few scenes with Proximo remaining in the film, Ridley Scott utilized a combination of techniques to complete them.
For Proximo's final scenes in Gladiator, Scott filmed his interaction with Maximus at night, with the two separated by the bars of a prison cell. Proximo passes Maximus the keys, allowing the former general to initiate his plan against Commodus. For this scene, a body double was used for Proximo, while Reed's face was digitally applied in post-production by the British VFX house employed for Gladiator, The Mill.
Proximo's death scene a few minutes later also employed the same techniques. The scene shows the body double from behind when the Roman soldiers enter the room and execute Proximo, with a quick shot from the front showing Reed. Similar techniques would later be used to complete Brian O'Conner's scenes in Furious 7 after the passing of Paul Walker.
Despite being a rather amoral character mostly indifferent to the bloody deaths of his gladiators on the arena, Reed's Proximo is nevertheless an important supporting character who goes through his own arc alongside Maximus. Proximo being a former gladiator leaves him numb to the barbarism of the Roman Empire, and perfectly willing to monetarily take advantage of it after winning his own freedom. When Maximus turns to him for help in bringing down Commodus, Proximo scoffs at the idea, valuing the wealth the gladiatorial games Commodus has organized brings him and sternly declaring "I'm an entertainer."
When Proximo finally decides to align with the planned revolt, the stalwart warrior Maximus commends him with "Proximo, are you in danger of becoming a good man?", with Proximo grunting and walking off before being executed. Though Reed sadly died before the completion of the film, his performance as Proximo was still as essential an element as Crowe's Maximus in making Gladiator the enduring epic that it remains today. In his final performance as Proximo, Reed embodied a cynical man who, though not admitting it to himself, chose to side against everything that brought him wealth to bring down the tyrannical ruler of Rome.