American actress Katrina Law appeared on Spartacus: Blood and Sand for less than half of the season but she made an impression on fans, and her character Mira made an even bigger impression on Spartacus. Law, best known for an arc on the TV series Legend of the Seeker and the web series The Resistance, is back with Spartacus: Vengeance, which premieres Friday on Starz.
In Season 1, Spartacus and Mira began a relationship that continues into the new season, and the New Jersey-born Law spoke with Spinoff Online about what fans can expect in the coming weeks, the challenges she faced as an actor, working with men in loincloths, and trying to understand New Zealanders.
SPINOFF ONLINE: After coming onto the show part way through the first season, you’re now a regular and, as an actor, this is your first time playing a character for this length of time. What has the experience been like?
Katrina Law: I think the biggest learning lesson on a show like Spartacus and being a series regular was stamina and pacing. I don't even know if this actually applies to any other show just because a lot of the stamina and pacing I'm actually referring to has to do with physicality. It's such a physical show. You want to do everything that you're asked, but you realize that if you do that on such a physical show you annihilate yourself and you literally cannot physically produce the same quality the next week because you're so sore, tired or injured. It was a big learning experience having to say, no, I actually can't do that, or figuring out how to act like you're giving one hundred percent without giving one hundred percent physically. After seven months of doing this without a break, that was the biggest lesson.
This season is very different than the first. What has it been like for Mira?
This year was a lot more physical for Mira and for pretty much all of the slaves. Last year the gladiators had to do all the fight scenes but this year everybody is on the run and everybody is fighting for their life. Physically it was very challenging this year. After the season wrap I got back to LA and sat on my couch. If you needed me to get off my couch, there was no way because I just couldn't. [laughs]
It was great being a series regular. It's great to be working, that's a blessing in and of itself. It's good to live with the character for a while and get to see how they grow and where they get to go. On a show you don't necessarily know where your character ends up. It's not like a movie where you get the script and you know the arc and the ending. This is ongoing. She does this one day and that the next. You don't know where your character is going so it makes it a really interesting challenge and keeps it fresh and interesting
Have you had any conversations with Steven S. DeKnight and the writers about Mira and her arc and the show's plot this season and beyond?
I think the cool thing that the writers do – and depending on who you ask, it may not be that cool – but they don't necessarily tell you what the characters are doing. They give the actors just a broad view. I don't know if it's because they don’t want the actors to get married to an idea. They'll say, "She's going to do this and she's going to go in that direction," but you don't really know what it is that takes your character in that direction. It makes you really have to work. You're constantly being surprised by your character as the season goes on. You have a general idea of where they're going but you don't know how or why.
