From the time Spartacus: Blood and Sand debuted on Starz in January, 2010, it established itself as an epic production with visuals unlike anything previously seen on TV. When the series was pick up for Season Two, its stars Andy Whitfield was unable to reprise his role as Spartacus, as he had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which ultimately took his life on September 11, 2011.

After a long and extensive search, Australian actor Liam McIntyre was chosen to replace Whitfield. With Spartacus: Vengeance premiering this month, the actor spoke with the TV Critics about the upcoming season and the trauma of replacing Andy Whitfield.

I read that you auditioned for the role and then had to go through a regime of beefing up before they would give you the job. How long did that take?
It was a very exciting time. I'd lost 45 pound for this thing called Frozen Moments, and then they brought me into this audition room, and I thought, 'Why am I here?' Then they kept bringing me back and training me.
I got a military trainer and they just kept upping the stakes and seeing what they could do to me. It was everything from just lifting really heavy weight to running and lifting heavy weights! That went on for about three to four months, and then they finally put me out of my misery, and said, 'Keep training.' (he laughs) No.
It was fair enough, every moment through that process was really exciting because it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. And I had this huge company, just going, 'Keep trying.'

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