February 2012 Archives   29 February 2012 2012 AUSXIP Charity Auction FAQ The 2012 AUSXIP Charity Auction is fast approaching (21-28 March 2012) and we have quite a few goodies to add to this year's auction. Many items have been signed and/or donated by: Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, Adrienne Wilkinson, Steven Sears, Katherine Fugate, Crystal Chappell (Venice), Viva Bianca, Erin Cummings, Katrina Law, Stacy Haiduk and many others have donated, autographed and contributed items for the Charity Auction. Every year we get items sent to us by fans who want to contribute their collectables to the auction or contribute other items such as books or artwork For this auction, Lucy Lawless took time out of her very busy schedule in July 2011 to sign a great many items and donated some very special items as did Rob Tapert, Erin Cummings, Viva Bianca, Katrina Law, Stacy Haiduk, Adrienne Wilkinson and others. 2012 ANNUAL AUSXIP CHARITY AUCTION In Association with The Starship Foundation 21-28 March 2012 Frequently Asked Questions Last updated: 29 February 2012 Please read before sending in your question - this section will be updated as required. 1. Which charity will benefit from this year's Charity Auction? 2. Why isn't the Auction Also Raising Money For Renee's Charity? 3. Where did the Items come from and can I donate? 4. How long does the auction last? 5. Where can I go to place a bid? 6. Can you use the same password and user ID from previous auctions on AUSXIP? 7. How can I register to participate in this auction? 8. The site says "Currency is in ($) unless otherwise noted. Is this always in *US* dollars? 9. Once the sale is over, how do I pay for my items? 10. Where are the items going to be shipped from? 11. How do I pay for shipping? 12. I can't afford to bid on any items, would it be possible to donate to 13. I have a website / facebook / twitter. Can I participate in promoting this auction? 14. Would you like to ask a question not included in the FAQ?     24 February 2012 Upcoming Convention Appearances by Spartacus Cast Here are some convention appearances coming for Spartacus cast Lesley-Ann Brandt and Craig Parker http://www.wizardworldcomiccon.com/home-pa.html http://www.wizardworldcomiccon.com/home-ch.html Craig Parker http://www.wizardworldcomiccon.com/home-tx.html     23 February 2012 Jai Courtney Lands Lead Role in A Good Day To Die Hard The absolutely adorable Jai Courtney has landed a HUGE role in the upcoming movie A Good Day To Die Hard – the 5th movie in the Die Hard franchise. Deadline has the news about this wonderful casting: A prolonged search has ended, and 20th Century Fox has set Jai Courtney to play the son of John McClane (Bruce Willis) in A Good Day To Die Hard, the fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise. John Moore will direct a film that has been dated for a February 14, 2013 release. Alex Young is producing. This is a big surprise as the studio, Moore and Willis met a ton of up-and-coming young actors, only to expand the search several times. Courtney hadn’t been on any of those short lists that I’d heard of, but I believe it came down to Courtney and Liam Hemsworth, the Hunger Games star Click here to read more     23 February 2012 Italian Spartacus Party at Peitra Ligure Les Cafe des Artistes - Photos! As reported on 21 February , the Italian fans held a party and here are the photos! It was held in Peitra Ligure. It was a costume party and the theme was Spartacus! Barbara was at the event and she sent in some photos. The cafè is called Les Cafè des Artistes.   Click here to view all the images     22 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Ratings for Episode 4 Increase The good news keeps on coming for Spartacus Vengeance. The ratings for Episode 4 have been released and they see an increase from episodes 1-3. Episode 1 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:02 PM 1.391 0.6 (18-49 Demographic) Episode 2 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:02 PM 1301 0.6 (18-49 Demographic) Episode 3 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:01 PM 1.401 0.7 (18-49 Demographic) Episode 4 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:00 PM 1471 0.7 (18-49 Demographic) The figures are courtesy of TVbytheNumbers     22 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 5 Libertus Clip - We Are For The Arena And Capua Starz has released a new clip from Episode 5 Libertus. I have to say the more I see of Liam, the more impressed I get. "We Are For The Arena And Capua" - Spartacus' version of we will leave no one behind.       22 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 5 Episode Stills Added 14 high resolution episode stills for Spartacus Season 2 Episode 5 Episode 5: Libertus Spartacus tries to free Crixus from Roman captivity, but a gladiator from the House of Batiatus complicates it. Airdate: 02-24-2012 Click here to view     22 February 2012 Interview with Liam on FoxNews Video and Transcript Liam McIntyre is Spartacus, but all roads don't necessarily lead to Rome. Before his lead role in the television series “Spartacus: Vengeance”, the Australian-born actor had made quite a stir in both the land down under for his rolls in several short films and in popular Aussie television shows like “Rush” and “Neighbours”. His U.S. debut was made in the Emmy award winning HBO miniseries “The Pacific” However, it was through tragedy that McIntyre, 30, scored the role of a lifetime in the Starz’s series about the Roman gladiator after the previous lead, Andy Whitfield, was forced to withdraw due to a battle with cancer. For McIntyre, he prefers the tropical oasis of Fiji after a hard day at the coliseum. Fox411 sat down with the McIntyre to talk about the beautiful Sotuh Pacific island nation. He says that its the ideal place for any gladiator looking to put down their sword and shield for a romantic getaway. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/02/21/liam-mcintyre-is-spartacus-1077679359/#ixzz1n3EQpMJk     22 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Character Profile Videos Here's the character video clips from Starz (available only to US visitors). You can also view these videos on YouTube on the Starz Channel Lucretia: http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/Videos/#/character-profile-lucretia Spartacus: http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/Videos/#/character-profile-spartacus Oenomaus: http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/Videos/#/character-profile-oenomaus Crixus: http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/Videos/#/character-profile-crixus Ilithyia: http://www.starz.com/originals/spartacus/Videos/#/character-profile-ilithyia     22 February 2012 Lucy Makes Boston Herald TV Critic's Heart All Aflutter Mark is a tv critic at the Boston Herald and as many people are, he's a Lucy fan. The following note is after he received a letter of thanks from Lucy. This hardened tv critic's heart went all aflutter and professes his undying love for her and wants to marry her. I think Rob may have something to say about that but what the heck it's always good to get another marriage proposal or two. Get in line Mark, there is a long long long line of people ahead of you! Lucy's note read: Dear Mark, BOO! I live to terrify. Thank you so much for your kind words to me and our show "Spartacus: Vengeance." It means the world to me to have had your support since it's harder to stay alive in cable TV than ancient Capua. Blessings on you!" (signed) "Lucy Lawless. Click here to read Mark's letter to Lucy     22 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Marathon on 25 February on Starz A marathon of episodes 1-5 of “Spartacus: Vengeance” will air on Saturday, February 25 beginning at 9pm ET/PT, exclusively on STARZ. WHAT: Episodes 1-5 of the STARZ Original Series, “Spartacus: Vengeance,” will air back-to-back on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 9pm ET/PT, exclusively on Starz. Catch what you’ve missed on this season of the hit STARZ Original Series “Spartacus: Vengeance” with a marathon of episodes 1-5. This one-hour, ten episode series, which has already been picked-up for a third season, will continue with the second half of season two on Friday, March 2nd. Synopsis: On the heels of the bloody escape from the House of Batiatus that concluded “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” the gladiator rebellion continues and begins to strike fear into the heart of the Roman Republic in “Spartacus: Vengeance.” Gaius Claudius Glaber and his Roman troops are sent to Capua to crush the growing band of freed slaves that Spartacus leads before it can inflict further damage. Spartacus is presented the choice of satisfying his personal need for vengeance against the man that condemned his wife to slavery and eventual death, or making the larger sacrifices necessary to keep his budding army from breaking apart. Containing all of the blood-soaked action, exotic sexuality, and villainy and heroism that has come to distinguish the series, the tale of Spartacus resumes in epic fashion. WHO: Liam McIntyre (Ektopos, Radev, “Neighbours,” “The Pacific”) in the title role of Spartacus; Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Battlestar Galactica”) as Lucretia; Peter Mensah (Avatar, 300, The Incredible Hulk) as Oenomaus – once known as Doctore; Manu Bennett (The Marine, 30 Days of Night), as Crixus; Dustin Clare (“Underbelly,” “Satisfaction”) as Gannicus; Nick E. Tarabay (“Crash,” “CSI: Miami”) as Ashur; and Katrina Law (“Third Watch”) as Mira. This season also brings the return of “Blood and Sand” cast members, Craig Parker (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) as Gaius Cladius Glaber, and his alluring and cunning wife Ilithyia (Accidents Happen), played by Viva Bianca. Actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson (“Dirt”) joins the series as Naevia. “Spartacus: Vengeance” is executive produced by Rob Tapert (The Grudge, “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”), Steven S. DeKnight (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man and The Evil Dead), and Joshua Donen (The Quick and the Dead). This same conceptual creative team also produced the first two installments of the series: season one, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” and the prequel, “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.”     21 February 2012 Olansamuelle's Draw Them All Comic Strip - Season 2 Episode 3 The Greater Good Olansamuelle's Draw Them All Spartacus Comic Strip for Spartacus Season 2 Episode 3 The Greater Good Spartacus must navigate a divide that opens up among the gladiators after news of Naevia?s fate. Lucretia reveals a long-held secret to gain information, and an attack puts the rebels at risk Airdate: 02-10-2012 Click here to view     21 February 2012 Spartacus Cast on Twitter and Facebook - Lucy Lawless, Nick Tarabay and Ellen Hollman Well the last two remaining cast that didn't have Twitter accounts have now surfaced and Lady Saxa shows up on Facebook! TWITTER If you missed the HUGE news over the last few days, here it is - Lucy Lawless, has joined twitter. This has been huge news over the last few days over 6,700 people have followed her. How can you do so? Go to http://twitter.com/@RealLucyLawless and follow Lucy! She's currently tweeting about the filming of a new mini-series by Jane Campion called Top of the Lake. Filming is currently underway with a stellar cast including Holly Hunter. You can find out more about Top of the Lake on AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Top of the Lake subsite and Nick Tarabay has joined twitter today! It's been quite a busy time so hop on over to Twitter and show some love to http://twitter.com/#!/nicktarabay FACEBOOK Ellen Hollman (that zany Saxa) has a Spartacus Saxa Facebook page now online! Go and friend her or poor Saxa may feel lonely! We can't have that. http://www.facebook.com/ladysaxa Enjoy!     21 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 5 - Viva's Tour De Force Performance Zap2It previews Spartacus Episode 5 Spartacus: Vengeance': Gannicus returns and Ilythia tears up the screen Gannicus (Dustin Clare) is back in all his half-naked glory in this week's "Spartacus: Vengeance!" You know what we love about this show? That's not even the biggest thing that happens in this episode. Of course, we're thrilled to see Clare back. So, very, very thrilled. But even more amazing is the tour de force performance by Viva Bianca as Ilythia. We don't want to give away any spoilers, but we've seen the episode and we can't wait for you to do the same. As you can see from the promo below, Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) and Gannicus are going to meet up. Considering that Gannicus slept with his wife, that isn't exactly going to go well. Read More     21 February 2012 Audio Interview with Dustin by Ranu's Reviews Dustin is interviewed by Ranu's Reviews Had the chance to chat with Dustin Clare who plays Gannicus on Spartacus:Vengeance. We talked about his role on Vengeance and what Gannicus has been up to since he is a free man.       21 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Episode 5 Libertus Video Preview Here's the preview for Spartacus Episode 5 coming up on Friday! Spartacus tries to free Crixus from Roman captivity, but a gladiator from the House of Batiatus complicates it. Airdate: 02-24-2012 Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills       21 February 2012 A Spartacus Party in Italy 21 February 2012 What an appropriate place for a Spartacus party. Newly minted AUSXIP Reporter Barbara Bruno emailed me some photos of a Spartacus Party that will be held in Peitra Ligure. It's a costume party and the theme is Spartacus! Barbara will be the AUSXIP Reporter on duty for the event - sounds like a lot of fun! If you are in the area, the location is a cafè called Les Cafè des Artistes. More later!     20 February 2012 Spartacus: 5 Tips to Get You From Skinny to Spartacus 5 Tips to Get You From Skinny to Spartacus When Liam McIntyre auditioned for the television drama Spartacus: Vengeance, he couldn't have looked less fit for the title role. He was fresh off a movie called Frozen Moments, playing a man who had awakened from a coma. Skinny made sense for that. For Spartacus? Not so much. But McIntyre is a good actor, so the Starz network put him at the top of its list, with one major caveat: At go time, he'd better look the part of a rebel warrior. So he set out to rebuild his musculature. (Search: Healthy ways to reshape your body) "It was a combination of mental and physical effort," he says. "The body can do incredible things as long as the mind supports it." We're providing McIntyre's fitness advice and our own accompanying Spartacus workout (exclusively available on Men?s Health Personal Trainer). Put them both to work, and when you reach go time?beach vacation, high school reunion, first date?you'll be sure to look the part, too. Read More     19 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 5 Libertus Episode Preview Spartacus Vengeance Season 2 Episode 5 Libertus Spartacus tries to free Crixus from Roman captivity, but a gladiator from the House of Batiatus complicates it. Airdate: 02-24-2012 Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills     19 February 2012 New Starz Video - What The Critics Are Saying About Spartacus Vengeance Starz has released a new video of what the critics are saying about Spartacus Vengeance       19 February 2012 AUSXIP Interviews Campbell Cooley - Actor, Voice Over Artist and Director; Multi-Talented Man AUSXIP Interviews Campbell Cooley Actor, Voice Over Artist and Director; Multi-Talented Man With An Incredible Dedication To His Craft Interviewed by MaryD 19 February 2012 For many a Xena fan, Campbell Cooley was a very familiar face and he will always be known as the poor soul (or not so poor) who got drooled upon by Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle). There is more to Campbell Cooley than that drool scene and many other scenes on Xena, Spartacus and numerous other shows. AUSXIP Interviewed Campbell back in 1998 so it's been a long time (and quite neglectful) since we had a chat on AUSXIP to this very talented man and dear friend to myself and AUSXIP. Campbell recently got one of his acting wishes fulfilled by starring opposite Peter Mensah in Spartacus Vengeance. Sit back and enjoy this fascinating interview and learn more about Campbell, actor, voice Over Artist and director; a multi-talented man with an incredible dedication to his craft. Read Interview     18 February 2012 Lucy Lawless On Twitter! The Real Deal! 100% Lucy Lawless The twitter account you have been waiting for. LUCY LAWLESS. The real deal, @RealLucyLawless is 100% organic Lucy Lawless! GO GO GO FOLLOW! http://twitter.com/RealLucyLawless Let the fun begin! Lucy has 233 followers so far - guarantee you that this will be double that before I finish this sentence! It is 100% Lucy's account. Guaranteed. No ifs, no buts, no fakes. It's Lucy. Have fun!     18 February 2012 Lady Saxa Meets Her Hero Xena Talk about fandoms colliding. I recently interviewed Ellen Hollman and we talked about her punking of Lucy Lawless at the recent 2012 Xena Convention in Los Angeles. Ellen posed as a fan and totally confused Lucy until Lucy figured it out. I was in the audience at the convention and I think the majority of the fans there (around 1000 at a rough guestimate) collectively groaned as the newbie fan (who obviously didn't know how to get to her question without taking the scenic route) was taking a long time to get to her question. It was revealed (well Lucy did figure it out eventually that it was Ellen) and Ellen joined Lucy on stage briefly for a laugh. Now this is even funnier because Lucy did something similar to her co-star and friend Renee O'Connor a few years ago. So Karma came to the convention and paid Lucy a visit :) Ellen said about the punking: You recently surprised your Spartacus co-star Lucy Lawless at the Official Xena Convention, how did that come about? I don't know if it's the fact that I'm born on April Fools day, or if I'm just a prankster in general that inspired my recent 'punk' at Xena-Con. Michael Hurst tweeted he was going to be there and when I looked up the schedule I discovered, much to my delight, that Xena Warrior Princess was indeed going to be present for questions and photo ops. Saxa just happens to be a HUGE Xena fan so naturally an appearance was necessary. Were you surprised by the fan reaction? If by 'reaction' you mean "while I was scantily clad in Xena garb in front of hundreds of die hard fans insisting on a non-allowed autograph did I fear for my very life?" Yes...Yes I was fearful/surprised and ready to 'get all Saxa on them' if need be. Thank God she brought me on stage for accolades, explaining I was fellow cast! I don't think the Warrior Queen herself is used to a warrior-in-training Convention Punking her, ha! She's such a great sport, I would basketball through a minefield for her. Check out the video below of Ellen preparing to meet the legendary Xena       16 February 2012 Spartacus Costumes & Props To Be Featured At "And The Winner Is..." Exhibit At The Hollywood Museum “And the Winner Is…!” Special Award Season Exhibit Presented by the Hollywood Museum and The Hollywood Reporter The Hollywood Museum and The Hollywood Reporter present the opening of the “And The Winner Is…!” exhibit, celebrating the 2012 Hollywood Awards Season, on Thursday, February 16, 2012. This exhibit showcases the largest selection of costumes and props from over twenty films and television shows nominated for awards. Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) February 15, 2012 The Hollywood Museum and The Hollywood Reporter present the opening of the “And The Winner Is…!” exhibit, celebrating the 2012 Hollywood Awards Season, on Thursday, February 16, 2012. This exhibit showcases the largest selection of costumes and props from over twenty films and television shows nominated for awards. Honoring the magic of movies, television and music excellence, the exhibit will be on display through the end of April and is located in the Historic Max Factor Building, 1660 N. Highland Avenue at Hollywood Blvd. “And The Winner Is…!” includes selected items from 2012 Academy Award nominees including Hugo, The Artist, The Help, Midnight in Paris, The Descendants, Harry Potter, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, Ides of March, and other popular films such as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, J. Edgar, Young Adult, Footloose, Super 8 and others. Television shows spotlighted in the awards campaigns are also on display in “And The Winner Is…!” exhibit including costumes and props from The Good Wife, The Walking Dead, Justified, Spartacus, Modern Family, Glee, American Horror Story, Boss, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Camelot, 50/50. “As The Hollywood Museum is a showcase reflecting Hollywood's history, the “And The Winner Is…!” exhibit is the perfect stage to spotlight the Hollywood Award Season,” says museum president and founder Donelle Dadigan. “It is a tribute to each studio and Guild that contributed to this years’ Oscars®, Golden Globes®, guild and critics' awards.” Also part of the exhibit are award statuettes from the Oscars®, Golden Globes®, Emmys®, Screen Actor Guild Awards®, Art Director’s Guild and People’s Choice Awards. “And The Winner Is…!” exhibit also includes a model of one of the original Academy Awards® stage sets. The Hollywood Museum gratefully acknowledges the contributions for “And The Winner Is…!” Exhibit from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Screen Actors Guild, Art Directors Guild, Paramount Studios, Sony Pictures Classics, Fox Television, AMC Television, FX Networks, Starz Entertainment, The Weinstein Company DreamWorks Pictures, Fox Searchlight, and The Costume House: Valentino Collection among others. “There is something for everyone of all ages at The Hollywood Museum. This is where you can discover the glamour of old Hollywood, from Elvis to Marilyn Monroe, and see costumes and red carpet fashion from today’s Hollywood rising stars from films like The Artist,” states Dadigan. In addition to the current award nominees and winners, The Hollywood Museum also features a look at Hollywood’s rich history. On view in the exhibit are items from top award races in years past, including costumes from Golden Globe® winner Ben-Hur, which won best picture in 1959, props from Silence of the Lambs, including Hannibal Lector's mask (Oscars® for Best Picture, Director, Actor and Actress); Judy Garland's gown from A Star Is Born (Golden Globe®, Best Actress); costumes worn by Golden Globe® winners Tom Cruise and Marilyn Monroe; the 1952 Writers Guild of America award earned by High Noon; as well as Sylvester Stallone's boxing gloves and signed script from the Academy Award winning Rocky and Sylvester Stallone’s Worst Actor of the Century Razzie® Award. The ultimate destination for tourists and movie fans, The Hollywood Museum is located in the historic Max Factor Building and includes miracles of motion picture magic, past and present, on four floors and houses more than 10,000 pieces of show business memorabilia. WHERE: The Hollywood Museum, 1660 N. Highland Avenue (at Hollywood Blvd) Hollywood, CA 90028 WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday – Sunday, February 16 – end of April 2012 TICKET PRICE: $15 for Adults, $12 for Seniors and Students INFO: (323) 464-7776 http://www.thehollywoodmuseum.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheHollywoodMuseum ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD MUSEUM The Hollywood Museum, the official museum of Hollywood, has the most extensive collection of Hollywood Memorabilia in the World. The museum features four floors of breathtaking exhibits and is the home of more than 10,000 authentic showbiz treasures, one of a kind costumes, props, photographs, scripts and vintage memorabilia from favorite movies and TV shows. The museum includes costumes from Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson; Props from ‘Gone With The Wind,’ ‘Twilight: New Moon,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Transformers,’ ‘Revenge of the Fallen,’ ‘High School Musical 2,’ ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ‘Glee,’ and more. The Hollywood Museum is located in the historic Max Factor Building on the corner of Hollywood & Highland, where Max Factor, the legend of movie makeup, worked his magic on motion picture stars since 1935. The Hollywood Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER The Hollywood Reporter is the definitive interpretive voice of the entertainment industry. Informing, engaging and empowering content is delivered across a multimedia platform that includes: a weekly magazine, bi-monthly special reports, quarterly glossies, a Website, a daily news PDF, iPad app and events. The Hollywood Reporter is read by the most powerful people in the entertainment industry and the most influential consumers who follow it – those who shape desire, set trends and ultimately drive culture – providing an unmatched level of access and influence.     16 February 2012 Interview with Ellen and Saxa's Connection To Gannicus Interview with Ellen Hollman from AccidentalSexiness Spartacus: Vengeance: Ellen Hollman talks about Saxa's connection to Gannicus It is no secret that I have a slight obsession with Spartacus: Vengeance, specifically when it comes to the topic of Gannicus (Dustin Clare)! In season two, we have yet to catch a glimpse of our beloved hero from Gods of the Arena but I hear whispers that he is set to return in episode 5. (I can confirm I have seen episodes 1-4 and Gannicus is not in any of them) And only two episodes later, we can expect Saxa (Ellen Hollman) to make her presence known to Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) before setting her pretty eyes onto Gannicus. Who can blame her right? I had the pleasure to speak to Ellen last week and she promises her character will not just be strong but also vulnerable. Sounds a lot like Melitta no? There might be a comparable love match between them after all! So far from what we have heard about Saxa we know she is ?the first female German warrior to join the ranks of Spartacus. She?s fierce, fun, intelligent and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. In other words, she will kick your ass and have a laugh about it later.? But I wanted to know what Ellen could tell us about Saxa that we have not heard already. Read More     15 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 4 High Resolution Episode Stills Added high resolution episode stills for Spartacus Vengeance Episode 4 Click here to view Spartacus leads survivors through the woods; Crixus returns to a place of past suffering; Lucretia pries into Ilithyias affairs. Airdate: 02-17-2012 Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills     15 February 2012 TV Guide Spoilers on Lucretia's New Man If you are keeping spoiler free - now is the time to stop reading. Here are some spoilers from TV Guide Online What's coming up on Spartacus? NATALIE: Is Lucretia out of mourning already? The widowed domina will be getting very cozy with a new man, a Roman, not a slave this time during a decadent party held at the former House of Batiatus. Could this be one of the love interests Lucy Lawless teased? In an interview with Lucy with TV Guide on 26 January 2012, Lucy said: A Love for Lucretia. The domina survived the House of Batiatus slaughter, but is not the Lucretia we once knew. Nevertheless, she still holds appeal for at least one person. "Lucretia's lost everything," Lawless says. "She's lost her beloved husband, the child she was going to give him, the lover who enabled the child, the home, status and therefore it's quite understandable that she's lost her marbles in the meantime... but she does have two love interests. Somebody falls in love with her."     15 February 2012 Spartacus S2 E4 Episode Clip Petition The Gods For a Different Union Spartacus S2 E4 Petition The Gods For A Different Union Posted on: 15th February 2012 Ilithyia and Lucretia. Spartacus leads survivors through the woods; Crixus returns to a place of past suffering; Lucretia pries into Ilithyias affairs. Airdate: 02-17-2012 Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills |     14 February 2012 Peter Mensah's New Role on HBO's True Blood Here is some very exciting news for Peter Mensah fans. Peter has landed a recurring role on the hit show "True Blood" for Season 5. According to deadline: Peter Mensah will join True Blood in a recurring role as Kibwe, Chancellor for the Authority. Originally from Africa, Kibwe works toward mainstreaming under Roman's tenure. What does this mean for Peter's role of Onomeous on Spartacus? Michael Ausiello speculated on this in his mention of Peter's new role: What does this mean for his role as gladiator sensei Doctore on the Starz drama? Probably nothing. The show's third season doesn't go into production in New Zealand until April, leaving Mensah plenty of time to squeeze in a trip to Bon Temps.     14 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Ratings For Episode 3 The good news keeps on coming for Spartacus Vengeance. The ratings for Episode 3 have been released and they see an increase Ep1 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:02 PM 1.391 0.6 Ep2 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:02 PM 1301 0.6 Ep3 SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE STZP 10:01 PM 1.401 0.7 The figures are courtesy of TVbytheNumbers     14 February 2012 Meet the ladies of Spartacus at Chateau Nightclub on Feb. 24 Katrina Law, Ellen Hollman and Cynthia Addai-Robinson, will be hosting an evening at Chateau Nightclub in Las Vegas on Feb. 24. Click here for tickets           14 February 2012 2012 AUSXIP Charity Auction 21-28 March 2012 It's that time of year where AUSXIP is gearing up for our annual Charity Auction to benefit The Starship Foundation! This is our 6th Auction since 15 December 2006. Help us raise money for The Starship Foundation in New Zealand. Since 2006 we have raised money for Starship and other charities we have raised close to $90,000 (to be exact $88,682.60). What goodies have we got? Whilst I was in New Zealand last June, some very special items were donated by Lucy Lawless, Rob Tapert, Viva Bianca, Katrina Law and since then we have received more items to be auctioned off. 100% of the money raised goes to Starship. - Autographed A Good Day Script with photos and notes. Photos of Lucy, Renee, Karl and others from that episode. It was donated by Lucy and Rob and autographed by them both. SUPER RARE AND EXTREMELY UNIQUE - The AUTHENTIC and original mask worn by Viva Bianca in the Spartacus Season 1 episode "Whore" - Lucy donated it, Viva and Lucy signed it and I accepted it with glee. It still has the markings on the inside where the Sparty crew made adjustments for Viva. Signed by both Lucy and Viva on the inside of the mask. - This item truly made my eyes bug out - Season 1 DVD signed by EVERYONE on the cast and some from the production crew (except for Andy Whitfield). There are 14 signatures on it. A SUPER RARE item - Autographed Spartacus T-shirt including Andy Whitfield of the main cast! - Renee O'Connor Autographed DVDs and Photos - Autographed photos from Xena, Spartacus and other roles by Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor - Costumes and Jewelry worn by Lucy Lawless and Adrienne Wilkinson - Hard to find books by Writers from the Xenaverse - Autographed artwork - Autographed t-shirts from the entire cast of Venice The Series with Crystal Chappell, Adrienne Wilkinson and more. - Photos and much more there is something for everyone. I will have a complete list of items a few days before the auction starts on 21 March. Stay tuned of more!     14 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 4 Empty Hands Spartacus Season 2 Episode 4 Empty Hands Spartacus leads survivors through the woods; Crixus returns to a place of past suffering; Lucretia pries into Illithia's affairs. Airdate: 02-17-2012 Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills     14 February 2012 Spartacus Store New Designs Starz has announced that there are new designs on their Spartacus Merchandise Store There seems to be a small glitch with some of the t-shirts. Click here to order     14 February 2012 Spartacus Promo Images Update: Ashur, Agron, Naevia and Mira Updated the Spartacus Promo Images with new promo images for the following characters - Ashur - Agron - Naevia - Mira Click here to view the complete Spartacus Character Promo Images     13 February 2012 New Spartacus Art by Klippart - Gannicus Rock Star Klippart sent in a new wallpaper about Gannicus, Rock Star (and how!). Check out the art   Click on thumbnail for the larger image     12 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance on German TV 11 April 2012 This is for German Sparty fans, Petra just sent me the following information regarding when Spartacus will premiere on German TV the German pay-TV channel RTL Crime will send the second season of the tv series "Spartacus- Vengeance" from the 11th April on Wednesdays at 20.15 clock (serienjunkies.de)     12 February 2012 Olansamuelle's Draw Them All Spartacus Comic Strip S2 Ep2 Olansamuelle's Draw Them All Spartacus Comic Strip Season 2 Episode 2         Click here to view View more of the Draw Them All Spartacus Comic Strip here     12 February 2012 Daily News TV Spotlight Lucy Lawless And Her Music 11 February 2012 The Daily News newspaper in the US has a supplement called TV Spotlight which featured a Q&A about Lucy's singing abilities. Check out the response below. Q: Is it true that Lucy Lawless put out a music album? A: Not exactly. Lucy Lawless, best known to most as the warrior princess Xena in the cleverly titled cult classic series "Xena: warrior Princess," has released a recording of a live concert she performed at L.A.'s famed Roxy Theater, and an EP (mini-album) with five tracks, three of which are just remixes of the first. However, Lawless is certainly aware of her physical appeal, which undeniably aided in the success of her TV show (which featured her jumping around in the tightest, skimpiest battle Armour ever worn by a warrior princess). Perhaps that's why, though she's released just two audio recordings, she's released multiple live-concert DVDS, including two filmed at the aforementioned Roxy.     She also contributed a song to the 2006 CD "Unexpected Dreams: Songs From the Stars," a compilation of lullabies performed by various film and TV stars. Other contributors include Scarlett Johansson, Ewan Mcgregor and "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher.       As is the case with most actors who can sing, Lawless appeared in a Broadway run of "Grease," playing Rizzo. Her appearance earned a fair bit of press -- "Xena" was nearing its popularity peak at the time -and so this was most people's introduction to Lawless's musical bent. But despite all this she hasn't abandoned her TV fans. Indeed, her current series, Starz's "Spartacus," has a lot in common with "Xena: warrior Princess." Both are factually loose, racy portrayals of classical eras -- with "Spartacus," she's moved forward in time from ancient Greece to slightly less-ancient Rome. The second season of "Spartacus" premiered on Jan. 27, and the series has already received a green light for a third season. For more about Lucy's singing career, check out AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Music     12 February 2012 Cocoa Cure Interviews Cynthia Addai-Robinson 06 February 2012 An Exclusive Interview with Cynthia Addai-Robinson by Cocoa Cure Born in London, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, whose mother is from Ghana and father from America, moved with her mother to the United States and was raised in a suburb of Washington, DC. Cynthia fell in love with acting at a very young age, performing in all her school plays and local productions. She furthered her love of the Arts when she went on to pursue a degree in Theater at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. After performing in several plays in New York, Cynthia moved to Los Angeles, and appeared on shows such as CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, and Numbers. Read More     12 February 2012 The Sentinal Interviews Cynthia Addai Robinson 23 December 2012 Cynthia Addai-Robinson The “Spartacus: Vengeance” Interview Born in London, to a mother from Ghana and a father from America, Cynthia Addai-Robinson was raised in the U.S. by her mom in a suburb of Washington, DC. A graduate of NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Theater, the emerging ingénue’s TV credits include guest starring roles on such shows as “CSI: NY,” “CSI: Miami,” and “Numbers.” Her recent recurring roles include F/X’s “Dirt “and ABC’s “Flash Forward,” while on the big screen she most recently appeared opposite Zoe Saldana in Columbiana. Presently, Cynthia is joining the cast of the Starz Networks’ hit series “Spartacus: Vengeance.” The season will open on the heels of the bloody escape from the House of Batiatus that concluded "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," as the gladiator rebellion continues and begins to strike fear into the heart of the Roman Republic. Read Interview     12 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Character Profile for Crixus Starz has released their Crixus Character Profile.     11 February 2012 TJ Scott Photographs Katrina Law For "In The Tub" Coffee Table Book TJ Scott has photographed Katrina Law (Mira) for his coffee table book "In The Tub" She Brings 'It' Such a treat to have Katrina Law of the 'Spartacus' drop by for an 'In The Tub' Portrait shoot for my Coffee Table Book. Click here to view     11 February 2012 Lucy Photo - Lucy in New York with Liam McIntyre January 2012 This photo was previously posted as part of an article in the NY Post on 25 January 2012 but it was a smaller version. Here is the larger version. The photographer is Tamara Beckwith from the NY Post. Click on the smaller image to get the full size version. For more coverage of the Spartacus Vengeance PR, check out AUSXIP Spartacus and AUSXIP Lucy Lawless     10 February 2012 AUSXIP Interviews Ellen Hollman - Saxa: Ferocious, Tenacious, Vivacious Force To Be Reckoned With! AUSXIP Interviews Ellen Hollman Saxa: Ferocious, Tenacious, Vivacious Force To Be Reckoned With! Interviewed by MaryD 10 February 2012 We have heard so much about the upcoming warrior Saxa who was quite a mystery to everyone leading up to the Spartacus Vengeance premiere and beyond. Recently I had the opportunity to interview Ellen Hollman, the spunky and entertaining actress, and her answers emphasized she isn't anything like her ferocious character. Ellen was also responsible for turning the tables on Lucy Lawless at the recent Official Xena Convention which was very funny to witness. We asked Ellen about her life, career choices, her charity organization which helps so many children in the Los Angeles area and of course about the force of nature that is Saxa. Read Interview     10 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 3 The Greater Good Epsiode Previews Spartacus S2 E3 To Feel A Child Grow Within You Posted on: 10th February 2012 Ilithyia, Seppia and Lucretia discuss Ilithyia’s unborn child. Spartacus must navigate a divide that opens up among the gladiators after news of Naevia’s fate. Lucretia reveals a long-held secret to gain information, and an attack puts the rebels at risk Airdate: 02-10-2012 Spartacus S2 E3 “Yet Our Fire Still Burns” Posted on: 10th February 2012 Spartacus must navigate a divide that opens up among the gladiators after news of Naevia’s fate. Lucretia reveals a long-held secret to gain information, and an attack puts the rebels at risk Airdate: 02-10-2012     10 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 DVD and Blu-Ray Pre-Order You can now pre-order the Season 2 DVD and Blu-Ray from Amazon.com. No release date is indicated as yet. DVD Spartacus: Vengeance - The Complete Second Season Price: $44.99 Blu-Ray Spartacus: Vengeance - The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray] Price: $44.99 Catch up with Spartacus on DVD and Blu-Ray with extra footage, commentary and other fantastic extras! Spartacus: Blood and Sand - The Complete First Season - DVD   Spartacus: Blood and Sand - The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] Spartacus: Gods of the Arena [Blu-ray] Read about the extras and the 3D bonus! Spartacus: Gods of the Arena DVD     10 February 2012 Lucy Lawless Gives Spartacus Vengeance Scoop - Huffington Post 09 February 2012 The Huffington Post interviewed Lucy about Spartacus (and included some Xena questions): Lucy Lawless Gives 'Spartacus: Vengeance' Scoop, 'Xena' Movie Update Huffington Post 09 February 2012 To say "Xena: Warrior Princess" left a lasting impression on its cultish following would be an understatement. Fans -- this Xenite included -- have followed series star Lucy Lawless, who eventually found her way back in the time of ancient gods, warlords and kings in Starz's "Spartacus: Vengeance." Lawless has put down the body armor and weapons in favor of flowing gowns and hair accessories as Lucretia, but it's not exactly a stress-free life for the former first lady of the House of Batiatus. Lucretia has had her world turned upside down and suffered tragedies (including the death of her unborn child) that have all taken a toll on her psyche. "She has every right to be out of her mind given that she's gone through such complete loss," Lawless told HuffPost TV in a phone interview from her home in New Zealand. "It was the destruction of her entire world, so is it so far-fetched for people to believe that she has actually lost her mind for real?" Read the rest of the interview to find out why "Spartacus" is her biggest challenge yet, if there could ever be a "Xena" movie and Lawless' feelings on "The Real Housewives." Read More     9 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance in New Zealand 12 February 2012 The Listener online magazine is reporting that Spartacus Vengeance will air in New Zealand on 12 February 2012! Spartacus: Vengeance (The Box, Sky 005, 9.30pm). The new season of Spartacus kicks off with a bloodbath and an orgy at the same time. The swords, sandals, sex and gore saga is so OTT we can't help but love its moxie, and new Spartacus Liam McIntyre (who replaced Andy Whitfield, RIP) rips into the role with abandon. He's after Gaius Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker) and his wife, the scheming Ilithyia (Viva Bianca) and so is Lucy Lawless's Lucretia, who miraculously survived last season's bloodbath, but is somewhat deranged. Huzzah! Date: 12 February 2012 Time: 9:30 pm Station: The Box, Sky 005 Source     9 February 2012 Gods of the Arena Trading Cards Non Sport Update Magazine Feb-March 2012 The Non Sport Update Magazine (issue Vol. 23 No. 1 Feb/Mar 2012) has an article on the Spartacus Gods of the Arena Trading Cards. The article was scanned by Andrea. Rittenhouse Archives is releasing a new set of Spartacus cards. This all-new series will feature cards based on the original Spartacus: Blood and Sand as well as the prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena with 2 Autograph Cards per pack! CHECKLIST INCLUDES Autograph Cards: (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena): Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), Jaime Murrary (Gaia), John Hannah (Batiatus), Manu Bennett (Crixus), Dustin Clare (Gannicus), Craig Walsh Wrightson (Solonius), Temeura Morrison (Doctore), Jeffrey Thomas (Titus), Jessica Grace Smith (Diona), Stephen Lovatt (Tullius), Shane Rangi (Dagan), Peter Feeney (Quintillius Varis); (Spartacus: Blood & Sand): Lliam Powell (Numerius), David Austin (Medicus), John Bach (Magistrate Calavius), Reuben de Jong (Theokoles) and more! (2 autographs cards per Premium Pack) 18 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Episode Synopses Cards, 3 cards per episode (2 cards per Premium Pack) 9 Gladiators In Action Cards (1 card per Premium Pack) 9 Battle for Freedom Cards (1 card per Premium Pack) 9 Spartacus: Vengeance Preview Cards (1 card per Premium Pack) 9 Women of Spartacus Cards (1 card per Premium Pack) 12 Spartacus Gold Plaque Cards (1 card per Premium Pack) Product Configuration: 9 Cards Per Premium Pack 15 Packs Per Box Box Topper: Andy Whitfield (1972-2011) In Memoriam Card 2-Box Incentive: Andy Whitfield (Spartacus) Relic Card 4-Box Incentive: Peter Mensah (Doctore) Autograph Card 8-Box Incentive: SPARTACUS 2012 Premium Pack Archive Box, including a complete master set of all pack-inserted cards. Click here to order Spartacus: Legends & Lore Card Premium Pack This all-new series will feature cards based on the original Spartacus: Blood and Sand, as well as the prequel series, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Each box will also come with a guarantee of a Lucy Lawless (Lucretia) or Jaime Murray (Gaia) autograph card! Inserts will include 18 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Synopsis Cards (2 per pack), 9 Gladiators in Action (1 per pack), 9 Andy Whitfield Tribute Cards (1 per pack), 9 Women of Spartacus Cards (1 per pack), and 12 Spartactus Gold Plaque Cards (1 per pack). Autographs will include: John Hannah, Many Bennett, Dustin Clare, and many more (2 per pack). Click here to order   Spartacus: Legends & Lore Card Album This all-new series will feature cards based on the original Spartacus: Blood and Sand, as well as the prequel series, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Each box will also come with a guarantee of a Lucy Lawless (Lucretia) or Jaime Murray (Gaia) autograph card! Inserts will include 18 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Synopsis Cards (2 per pack), 9 Gladiators in Action (1 per pack), 9 Andy Whitfield Tribute Cards (1 per pack), 9 Women of Spartacus Cards (1 per pack), and 12 Spartactus Gold Plaque Cards (1 per pack). Autographs will include: John Hannah, Many Bennett, Dustin Clare, and many more (2 per pack). Click here to order the Album     9 February 2012 M&C Previews Spartacus Vengeance Episode 3 The Greator Good Monsters and Critics previews the upcoming Spartacus Vengeance Episode 3 "The Greater Good" "Spartacus: Vengeance" (Fri., 10 p.m. EST on Starz) is reeling in the aftermath of Oenomaus (Mensah) and his guilt-fueled combat in the mines as penance for having helped destroy the house of Batiatus. Lucy Lawless, Nick Taraby, Viva Bianca, Peter Mensah and Manu Bennett make Friday night a no miss event on STARZ. "Spartacus: Vengeance" (Fri., 10 p.m. EST on Starz) is reeling in the aftermath of Oenomaus (Mensah) and his guilt-fueled combat in the mines as penance for having helped destroy the house of Batiatus. However, the twist was that Ashur (Tarabay) delivered him into the hands of Spartacus' enemy, Claudius Glaber. At Glaber's home in the night, Ashur said, "I have come bearing a gift that shall set you on the path for the fall of Spartacus." Enter our blood-soaked Lucretia (Lawless), fresh from sacrificing to the gods: "The gods truly hear my prayers." Read More     8 February 2012 Spartacus Vengeance Episode 3 The Greater Good Episode Stills Added new high resolution episode stills for the Spartacus Vengeance Episode 3: The Greater Good Spartacus must navigate a divide that opens up among the gladiators after news of Naevia?s fate. Lucretia reveals a long-held secret to gain information, and an attack puts the rebels at risk Airdate: 02-10-2012 Click here to view     8 February 2012 Spartacus:Vengeance Spoilers From Ask Ausiello: Question: I got hooked on Spartacus: Blood and Sand last week on On Demand. I’m still withholding judgment on Liam McIntrye as the new lead, but any spoilers for Spartacus: Vengeance? —Courtney Ausiello: The Tasmanian Devil is going to take possession of Mira’s (Katrina Law) body in Episode 4, giving rise to one of the most spectacular girl-on-boy(s) killing sprees I’ve ever seen. There are also some juicy Crixus/Lucretia scenes coming up, as well as an answer to this question: What does it look like when someone has their lower lip sliced off slowly by a sword?     8 February 2012 New Spartacus Wallpaper from Maria You can check out Maria's artwork at her Facebook page.   Click here to view in gallery     8 February 2012 Ratings for Spartacus:Vengeance Episode 2       Ratings for episode 2 were steady vs. the premiere episode.   Source     7 February 2012 Liam McIntyre: Strength of mind and body You could never tell by looking at him now, but Liam McIntyre, who plays the sinewy hero in Spartacus: Vengeance, had severe asthma when he was a boy. "There's a tenacity you get as an asthmatic where, occasionally in your life, the most important thing in the world is being able to take a breath again," he says, perched on a casual chair at a hotel. "That puts everything in perspective. Ultimately, when your next breath is more important that anything you can do, there's an element of that that builds your character and makes you stronger." When the new episodes of Spartacus return on Sunday, McIntyre will be needing all the strength he can muster. He'll be filling the sandals of the late Andy Whitfield, who played the role until he was felled by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in September. "It's bittersweet because you kind of wish it was never there in the first place," McIntyre says. "You wish the guy you watched in season 1 was still there. But given that's not possible, you have this great responsibility to do this dream job you can't imagine," he says. McIntyre was a reluctant actor in the first place. "I got tricked into acting. I studied business in Ireland and I was just trying to find things to do to make friends. It was a world away for me. "And I had no interest in acting ... This guy told me there was this role ... and I grudgingly agreed to do this thing I didn't want to do at all," he recalls. "I see my little first opening gambit [in the script]. 'OK, maybe I can handle it.' The next thing, my character comes back dressed as someone else ... I went to the director and I said, 'Who plays my character when he comes back?' "He says, 'You, obviously.' I said 'Wait, that's not what we signed up for. I'm not an actor. I can't do this.' I've never complained so much about getting a lead," he laughs. "I hated so much of that, up to the fourth night of performance when on stage sometimes it all clicks, and it's just this experience like no other - where all the players are in the same space and they're all connected in some way, and you get offstage with this buzz. "And I remember one of my co-stars said, 'Did you just get the acting bug?' I said, 'Don't be silly.' "I remember calling up Dad and apologising and saying, 'Dad, I think I want to be an actor.' It's also so sweet to flash forward nine, 10 years later and to ring up my father and say, 'Your son's done all right'." Still, he waited a long time for things to go right. He graduated with a degree in business and excelled at it. "I ended up in a job I really liked. The job was a cinema chain, I was deciding what movies went on, so by day I was this struggling actor and by night I was telling distributors, 'I don't know if we can fit that in'." Before he was hired he assured his boss that acting would not interfere. "Three months later these guys call up and said, 'We want to test you for the show [Spartacus].' I had to go in to my boss and say, 'You know that thing I said would never happen? It just happened.' "God bless him he was so good about it. He's still the best boss." McIntyre's parents divorced when he was 1 and he was reared by his mother and stepfather, who died when Liam was 12. "My stepdad was an incredible man," he sighs. His death taught McIntyre (29) a valuable lesson. "I learned to be a leader. I got to be the man of the house. I really did. I said, 'Mum, hold on, we can get through this together.' There's a lot of that I get to use [as Spartacus]. Spartacus now is pulling disparate members together for this bigger cause - and there's a lot of strange similarities in that experience." McIntyre had lost 20kg for another role when he was called to audition for Spartacus. "I was up against these two other massive, hulking men and ultimately, like I was trained to do: just do the work. Just be honest to your character and do the right thing. I was told ultimately that's what people kept coming back to." Then the hard work of shaping McIntyre into a sword-swinging icon began. He toiled at the gym four hours a day, followed a restrictive diet and took instructions from a gruelling ex-military trainer. "The head stunt guy of Spartacus was like, 'See where he breaks' essentially, and they put me through things you can't imagine," he says, laughing. Source     7 February 2012 Come out to the Hollywood Show this weekend!!! Come and meet Erin Cummings, Craig Parker and Lesley-Ann Brandt from "Spartacus" this weekend at the Hollywood Show in Burbank, CA. They will be there along with actors from "Star Wars", "Starsky & Hutch", "Harry Potter", "Carrie" and more. Click here for all the details     6 February 2012 Gallery Update - Magazine Scans         Added to the Magazine Scans Gallery: People Jan. 30, 2012 USA Today Jan. 27, 2012     6 February 2012 New Lucretia Wallpaper from Klippart       Click here to view in gallery     6 February 2012 12-inch figures based on "Spartacus: Blood and Sand"   CmToys has released 12-inch Roman gladiator figures based on the television series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand". Check out this review of the figures Detailed pictures of Crixus figure     ACI Toys also has a Spartacus figure coming out soon.     5 February 2012 New Spartacus Wallpapers from Maria     Click here to view in gallery     Click here to view in gallery     5 February 2012 New Spartacus Artwork by Christopher Morkaut Check out Christopher's Facebook page for more of his work. Click view larger image     5 February 2012 Spartacus:Vengeance soundtrack to be released on March 20th     Composer Joseph LoDuca, veteran of the venerable television action series Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess, returns to the Spartacus franchise with this lusty, exotic score. This CD also includes a second disc as a special bonus featuring LoDuca’s score for the audacious interim prequel series, SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA. Source     4 February 2012 'Spartacus: Vengeance' Creator Lists the 5 Biggest Misconceptions of the Time Period To a certain extent, it isn’t really the job of a period film or TV series like Starz's Spartacus: Vengeance to teach us about history. Its main purpose is to deliver a fantastic viewing experience for fans, but that doesn't mean the series hasn't tried to stay as historically correct as it can be. "There are always a bunch of little adjustments that we have to make," series creator Steven DeKnight tells The Hollywood Reporter. "I always say we try to stay close to history. We'll bend it. We'll try not to break it. But at the end of the day, our number one job is to entertain the audience. No one should be writing a term paper based on the show." The series does perform a good amount of research and DeKnight says that he isn’t shocked when fans call it out for what they believe to be anachronisms in the show. He understands where they're coming from. "I realized early on that most people watching, they really know the history side from other movies that they've watched, not from actually researching it, which I totally understand," he says. "When I came to this show, I knew nothing about the time period. I had to start from zero. The start and finish of my knowledge of this period was Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus. I knew absolutely nothing." STORY: 17 Things to Expect on 'Spartacus: Vengeance' At the same time, DeKnight says there are certain misconceptions of the time period that come up over and over from fans. Here are five of the biggest ones according to the series creator. 1. Cursing goes way back. "I sent my historical consultants a question about cursing, 'What curses did they use?' They sent me back a hysterical e-mail that ran through all the curses that they used. They were all exactly the same that we use now," he says. "The only difference, I'll get a little graphic…the only difference is, their worst curse word, the worst thing that you could call someone was 'clit,' which didn't quite translate for us, because we think it would have invoked more of a giggle. But, all the cursing was pretty much the same. To this day, I still get people calling me out on the Internet about the anachronistic cursing on the show. It's like no, that was real. A lot of it is taken from graffiti that was written on the walls." 2. "Manscaping" isn't a modern trend. "The Romans waxed. They waxed and they plucked. They considered hair barbaric," DeKnight explains. "Now, for the gladiators, there’s a good chance that they let the gladiators be hairy and barbaric. For the aesthetic of our show, that really doesn’t fly quite honestly. You can imagine Manu Bennett, who is carved from stone, he plays Crixus, if we hadn't waxed him down, you couldn't see any of his muscles." Click here for full article     4 February 2012 This Week's Draw Them All Spartacus Comic Strip - Vengeance Episode 1               Olanasmuelle is again going to be drawing comic strips for Spartacus: Vengeance and this week we have two strips. Click here to view               Click here to view     4 February 2012 'Spartacus: Vengeance': Lucy Lawless on nude scenes, crazy Lucretia We're totally obsessed with "Spartacus: Vengeance" here and we were thrilled to get a chance to sit down with genre legend Lucy Lawless who plays Lucretia at the Winter Press Tour. Lawless, who's character is in a desperate situation this season, gives us a look at playing a crazy (or not so crazy) woman, doing nude scenes and what playing "Xena: Warrior Princess" has done for public perception. "I think if she's crazy, she's crazy like a fox. She's entering a terrible -- she's going down a path with many snares and it's not going to be a comfortable life for her. She hasn't got any friends. She's got no support. No husband, no house, no baby, no lover and not a thing. Ilythia (Viva Bianca) shows up and that seems like it ought to be a good thing but it ain't." We asked Lawless about playing "crazy" and what it takes as an actress to walk that fine line between over doing it and getting it just right. "I don't. People just suspect me. Because it's Lucretia or because it's the person who played Xena or who played the bad girl. 'She's in the bad girl role,' that we assume she's going to be totally bad. I can play it totally straight, absolutely down the line and you're going to suspect me anyway." We talked about doing nude scenes and whether or not she'd gotten comfortable with it. "Who's comfortable?" she says. "Actually, we have to hire people who are comfortable. If you're doing a brothel scene, you can't have extras who are being prima donnas. It just holds everybody up at $100,000 a minute, or however much it is. For us, no. There is no getting used to it. It's a very funny thing." She also says that you sort of lose your sex drive working on the show. "Those things lose their taboo. We're so sick of thinking about it, worrying about it, talking about it. The show is great for everyone else's sex drive but ours," she laughed. Source     4 February 2012 Liam McIntyre Is the New Spartacus Hunk Prepare to swoon! Australian newcomer Liam McIntyre is causing quite a stir with his brooding, shirtless, breakout performance as rebel gladiator Spartacus in the new season of Starz's drama Spartacus: Revenge, airing Fridays at 10 p.m. The actor, 29, replaces the late Andy Whitfield – who died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year. Enjoying a bittersweet welcome as Rome’s newest hottie, McIntyre chats with PEOPLE. Here are five things to know about the charming hero. 1. He'll always be grateful to Andy Whitfield McIntyre received Whitfield's blessing to take over the Spartacus role before passing away last September. "I wouldn't have the role of my life without him," says McIntyre. "He did such an amazing job. I owe Andy the respect to do this job as the best as I can." 2. He's chivalrous The self-described "dork" is a true gentleman. "I'm polite. It's always ladies first: door opening and not eating before them," says McIntyre. "My mum would always frown at me and go, 'That's not how we do things in this household,' if I did it wrong." His honorable qualities have paid off in the romance department. He's dating Aussie singer-actress Erin Hasan. "She's exceptional," he says. "We recently celebrated our 1-year anniversary and it feels like forever in a good way." 3. He's a sexy phone operator – just not that kind! Before acting full time, McIntyre worked for a Village Cinema in Australia coordinating what movies played on their screens. His other responsibilities included assisting moviegoers by using his alluring baritone voice. "I'm still the voice message service for my old cinema," he says proudly. "I would use my deepest, darkest, steamiest, sexiest, voice to say things like, to speak to a booking officer push one, to speak to someone about parties and events push two. It was the job of my dreams if I was never going to become an actor." 4. He's a trampoline champ While studying abroad in Ireland for a business degree during the early 2000's, he discovered trampolining, a competitive Olympic sport during which gymnasts perform acrobatic flips while bouncing on a trampoline. "Me and somersaults go way back!" he says. "I won the third prize while traveling around Europe competing. As crazy as it sounds, it's pretty awesome." 5. He has a sweet tooth To get his 6-pack gladiator physique, he relies on three-hour gym sessions and a diet of mostly only chicken, vegetables and protein shakes. But the treat he misses the most? "Chocolate mousse! I don't even want to mention it because I'll start craving it," he says with a laugh. "I'll get cheat days, but for Christmas I cheated too much. I had delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, garlic bread and everything that makes a great Aussie Christmas. Now I'm back thrashing myself!" Source     4 February 2012 CraveOnline - Lucy Lawless on 'Spartacus: Vengeance' The continuation of Spartacus on Starz is inherently bittersweet because of the loss of Andy Whitfield, but Lucy Lawless can keep things light. When Starz presented the new "Spartacus: Vengeance" to the Television Critics Association, Lawless took questions about her Honey Badger segments. I followed up with Lawless about the new and crazier Lucretia in the current season.   Crave Online: Lucretia looks crazy. Is she a little crazy this year? Lucy Lawless: Well, you would be crazy, wouldn't you? Your unborn child has been unceremoniously stabbed within yourself. You've lost your husband, you've lost everything, so she may or may not be crazy. I'm going to let you decide. Crave Online: Do you get to play that the whole year? Lucy Lawless: No, because that would be very tiresome very quickly. Somebody's crazy, that’s interesting for about three seconds, but you quickly want to get back to the characters you know and love. That took a bit of doing actually, figuring that out. I found that extremely challenging. Crave Online: Are they making Lucretia pick up some weapons and get her hands dirty? Lucy Lawless: No, but I am on the receiving end of some very bad treatment this season. Crave Online: We love how outrageous the show can be. Lucy Lawless: Yeah, continues to be completely outrageous, I promise you. Again, they even manage to shock me. Crave Online: Do you find yourself topping yourself and the things you've done earlier? Lucy Lawless: Yes, I did, and very recently too. Before I came over here, I went through something that was down such a dark tunnel. It was a bad experience and I was so proud of it, and I hope that it comes out on screen as good as it felt terrible to make. Crave Online: Which episode is that in? We’ll look for it. Lucy Lawless: Six. Crave Online: Is Honey Badger more famous than Xena now? Lucy Lawless: [Laughs] I don't know. It's a threat. It's a serious threat. Crave Online: Xena is on Netflix now. Do you hear from new viewers and fans who are seeing it that way for the first time? Lucy Lawless: I don't hear anything. I'm analog but it stresses me out. I don't Twitter or anything because to try to promote a virtual self is so stressful to me, therefore I'm not going to do it. I'd rather go and make Honey Badger and be a dork and laugh my ass off. That's the real me. Crave Online: If this is the last season for Lucretia, what kind of character would you like to play next? Lucy Lawless: I continue to want to play morally imperiled characters, people that you guys think are bad. You know what? I'd love to play a victim. I love to play the vulnerability and that's what I love about Lucretia, is her vulnerability. Source     4 February 2012 Q&A: Nick Tarabay on the 'do-or-die' mentality of 'Spartacus' The new season of Spartacus already got off to a bloody start over on Starz, but one power player’s presence was barely felt in the premiere. Nick Tarabay’s Ashur may have been manipulating more deals behind-the-scenes than what we saw on-screen in the premiere of Spartatcus: Vengeance, but that only promises big moves sure to immediately follow his re-emergence in episode two. LA TV Insider Examiner caught up with Tarabay, who told us we were "in for a treat" with the episodes still yet to unfold on-sreen, to talk about excitement surrounding this season and what twists and tricks from Ashur we should expect. LA TV Insider Examiner: We've heard this a lot already, even though Spartacus: Vengeance has only aired one episode, but this season seems to be bigger and bloodier than ever before. Nick Tarabay: It's very, very true. It's taking everything and multiplying it by a hundred-- everything that we've gotten to know about the characters, everything we've gotten to know about the circumstances-- and we'll just blow it up in a way that’s going to be incredible. That's something that's very much so with my character and something I’m very, very happy about…I know a lot of people think they know where he's going, but they really don’t because I didn’t even know! How much did you know about his arc before you started shooting? Did you get the details in drips and droves as each episode began shooting, or did you know from the beginning so you could seed certain indicators of what’s to come? N.T.: Well, one of the things we've learned-- that I've personally learned, and that I think a lot of the cast has, as well-- with working with Steven DeKnight, you know, a brilliant writer…He always sets up twists for every character, and part of his writing, the clues are there, you just have to invest in your homework to find them. This is something I've come to expect from Steven, that every time I get a character, I mean, you see Ashur in black and white on paper, it's one way, and then when you see him on screen, it's different. There is a lot that the writers are trying to tell us…so sometimes they do give us notice, like 'Okay, I think you know you're going one way, but don't get too comfortable!' This kind of show, you're always on your toes, and the actor becomes almost like the character; I'm always trying to stay ten steps ahead: 'Why is he doing this; why is he dealing with this particular character this way?' Ashur has always had kind of shifty motives. What can we expect from him this season? N.T.: Ashur this season is the dude; he is the man. He does some stuff, that if I tell you…is amazing and grand. You know, what I love about Ashur and what a lot of people expect from him, is he always thinks ahead, and he always has something in the works. He's a very smart man, and this season you'll be surprised by how far he actually thought ahead. [And] there are certain relationships-- certain events that happen that in the beginning it's going to seem like 'Oh, that's kind of messed up,' but you’ll totally understand. This season you're going to [think differently] about Ashur; just when you think you're hating him, you’re going to fall in love with him. Click here for full interview     4 February 2012 Lucy on the cover of the February issue of She Magazine         She Magazine interviews Lucy for its 13th anniversary issue.   You can read it online here     4 February 2012 'Spartacus' Star Spills Blood, Secrets The Spartacus: Vengeance season premiere set up a myriad of mysteries that promise to unfold all season long -- but fans might want to look to the past in order to understand the present, according to star Viva Bianca. That was just one of the tantalizing teases this sexy star gave me when we caught up for a chat all about this exciting new season. Insider.com: Everyone was shocked when Lucretia re-appeared -- but no one more so than Ilithyia. What's her mental state in that episode? Viva Bianca: I spoke quite extensively to the director because it's possible that a woman like Ilithyia in the ancient Roman times would have seen "a shade" -- like a spirit from Hades. She's in utter disbelief. She was meant to be dead! That was the deal! That's why she says, "Kill it!" Not, "Kill her!" She's saying kill the ghost. What's really interesting is the journey Ilithyia goes on over the next episodes in trying to decipher the actual mental state of this person. Does she remember that I killed Lykenia? Does she remember that I sealed the doors? It's about discovering what she does or doesn't remember because it's seriously dangerous. Lucy Lawless Teases Lucretia's Season Two Journey Insider: Because the truth of Lucretia's mental state will undoubtedly remain shrouded in mystery for weeks, how did you approach playing their relationship? Viva: I approached the first scenes like Ilithyia is frightened of Lucretia – in some cases, I even envisioned her as a wild animal and I was trapped in a room with her. For example, in the first episode, in that bathroom scene, I imagined that Ilithyia was made to enter a room with a lion because I needed to be genuinely afraid of this woman. I didn't know what she could do; what she was capable of. Insider: And then, to top it off, Ilithyia is tasked to be Lucretia's minder! Viva: I know! It's the worst. She really thought things were sorted at the beginning of the season. "Sweet, I'm pregnant, my husband just got promoted, we're in Rome. This is the high life!" But that didn’t last too long. Where Does Spartacus Find Nude Extras? Insider: What can you tease about tonight's episode? Viva: Certainly the Lucretia/Ilithyia dynamic is explored more deeply, but there's some more hints into why and how Ilithyia is actually pregnant. Insider: Suffice it to say that Ilithyia might not have gotten pregnant the good old fashioned way? Viva: Well, it is Ilithyia we're talking about [laughs] – there was that great line in episode one that was along the lines of, "With matters concerning myself, the Gods themselves are free to speculate." [laughs] Watch The Spartacus Workout Insider: Well ... we saw her sleep with Spartacus last season, are you saying it's possible that he's the father of Ilithyia's baby? Viva: Oooh, there's a thought! Look, I think the writers are going to play with this idea all season and it's too delicious to reveal right now, but certainly a reason for you to tune in. Insider: But it's not like they had DNA testing in ancient Rome -- will the show ever be able to say for certain who the father of her baby is? Viva: You're right, there's no way in that time they could possible prove it – and I'm not saying it's anything like what you're proposing, but let's just say that Ilithyia has some tricks up her sleeve and eventually the truth will be revealed. The fire of having this life inside of her is going to add a level of wisdom to the person she is, that will probably be quite unexpected to audiences. Insider: What else excites you about this season? Viva: I think it's very exciting that the upstairs/downstairs has been opened up. Now there's two extreme worlds: the rebels and the Romans. And they do come to a head. There are some really significant episodes where specific characters from each of those worlds find one another and have to deal with that. Those worlds clashing is very exciting. Insider: Your co-star Lucy Lawless tells me the season finale is kind of epic. Viva: Oh, it's like an opera. It really is. We did some DVD commentary the other day and I was on the edge of my seat watching it – I love that this is a show you can work on and still be impressed by the finished product. Source     4 February 2012 TVGuide - Spartacus Star Lucy Lawless is Back With a Vengeance Does she have her own private wi-fi connection to the gods? Tonight's episode of Spartacus: Vengeance finds Lucy Lawless' character, Lucretia, being treated like a superstar by the citizens of Capua. They believe she's divinely blessed — how else to explain her narrow escape from death during the bloody slave revolt? — and that she can tap into the wisdom of Mount Olympus. It sure seems that way. Before long, Lucretia starts spouting prophecy. "She's no Tim Tebow," says Lawless. "Lucretia does not believe the gods are sticking their fingers in her personal business, but she is a widow with no means of support who is surrounded by enemies and desperate for survival. So she works it." And eventually that'll pay off — big time. "By the end of the season, Lucretia will get a new man," Lawless reveals. "In fact, after much tribulation, all her dreams will come true. All of them." Lawless is also doing well in the dream department. Spartacus, shot in her homeland of New Zealand, has finally brought her serious acclaim as an actress, plus another juicy gig — she's joining the killer cast (Holly Hunter, Elisabeth Moss) of the BBC miniseries Top of the Lake, directed by Oscar winner Jane Campion. But it wasn't too long ago that Lawless was living in L.A. in a post-Xena funk. She and her best pal, Tony-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, "would go to the shopping mall and sit in the vibrating chairs at the Brookstone store, stuffing ourselves with muffins and crying about our s---ty careers," recalls Lawless with a laugh. "I had to move back home to become successful again!" Source     3 February 2012 Gallery Update - Magazine Scans       Added Spartacus Ad from TV Guide to the Magazine Scans gallery. Click here for gallery.         3 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 2 A Place In the World Preview by MaryD Spartacus Season 2 Episode 2 A Place In The World Screener Preview by MaryD Spartacus and his men liberate a Roman villa, but its slaves are wary. Oenomaus throws himself into the brutal Pits, and Glaber supports Lucretia's prophecies, despite Ilithyia's protests. I held back from watching the second episode from the press kit until today. There are no spoilers in the preview below so it's pretty safe. Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills Well well well things do heat up a little in Season 2. There are two moments in this episode where I had a flashback to two Xena episodes - they were quick flashbacks so I didn't miss much on screen <g> and that same look on Lucy's face. Priceless. Absolutely priceless. Looney Lucretia is a joy to behold. I wonder what Viva Bianca would have done with the role of Callisto? Hmm would love to find out in an alternate universe. Everyone is truly hitting this out of the park and I simply adore Liam as Spartacus; he is owing that role and it fits. Truly fits. Great call by Starz, Rob Tapert and Steven DeKnight. We are also introduced to some new characters which are quite interesting. We also get to see more of Onomeous and his origins. I do love this character; the only one with any honour. A fantastic episode to continue the rebellion and prophecy from the Gods. Viva and Lucy are such a great team - Ilithyia, poor lass, she doesn't know what the heck is going on! She does, she doesn't, she does, she doesn't. It's going to be super to watch Ilithyia and Lucretia battle wits (well whatever wits Lucretia has left) but I suspect after seeing this, there is more to Looney Lucretia that are led to believe. MUCH more. EPISODE PREVIEW     3 February 2012 New gladiator enters fight in 'Spartacus' What a different vision these two stars of "Spartacus: Vengeance" offer in person. Here is Lucy Lawless: In her Starz adventure-action series, she builds on worldwide fame as Xena, Warrior Princess, by playing wily Lucretia, widow of the Roman sports impresario. Her "ludus," an extreme training camp for gladiators, was where Spartacus had been enslaved. Transported from first century B.C. Capua to modern-day Manhattan, Lawless, 43 — in bright sweater and snug jeans — is pretty, girlish and full of laughs. Alongside her for this recent interview is Liam McIntyre, who this season is taking over the role of Spartacus. Unlike the raging Thracian out to forge an army and topple the Roman Empire, McIntyre is chipper, affable and ready with wisecracks. The first season concluded two years ago in a brutal rebellion led by Spartacus at the ludus. Roman blood flowed and his masters' bodies dropped. Among the many victims were seemingly Lucretia. Now the saga picks up just a few weeks later with the gladiators having made their escape and Spartacus plotting widespread payback to their oppressors. And Lucretia makes her shocking return. "She's lost everything," says Lawless. "She's lost her husband, her baby, her lover, the house, her status — and her marbles." "Spartacus: Vengeance" retains a potent mix of hyper-realism and epic fantasy, with generous helpings of violence, nudity, sex and other visual pizzazz. But real-life tragedy, too, is a part of the story. Andy Whitfield, who originated the role of Spartacus, announced in March 2010 that he was stricken with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. That May, a six-episode prequel concentrating on characters other than Spartacus was set for the following year, to give Whitfield time off for treatment. But a few months later when the cancer returned, he announced his departure from the show. Last September, he died at age 39. "Being a fan of the show, I loved Andy's Spartacus so much," says McIntyre, now 29. "He wasn't just an action hero. In my auditions I tried to capture the heart that I felt in Spartacus due to Andy's great performance." "The show needed someone who could not only carry the role that Andy had created," Lawless adds, "but also bring something of his own that was authentic." But McIntyre was hardly Spartacus-brawny when he got to the set in New Zealand for his audition. "I'd never liked my body," he confides, "and my nightmare was to be filmed in underwear. I was no body builder. I was just this guy who liked sports and video games." It took months of grueling training for McIntyre to bulk up to Spartacus proportions — "that kind of intense exercise is horrible," he cringes — and only then, finally, to clench the role. His selection to inherit Spartacus' leather Speedo was announced last January. The ailing Whitfield supported McIntyre as the recasting choice, and offered to meet with his successor, "which I thought was amazingly big-hearted considering everything he was going through." Whitfield's failing health prevented their getting together, "but we exchanged emails," says McIntyre, "and I feel very blessed to have those." The Australian-born McIntyre, who made his U.S. television debut two years ago in HBO's miniseries "The Pacific," became an actor in an unlikely way, while studying business in Ireland on a student-exchange program. A chum inveigled him to take a role in a school production, and after first resisting, he got the bug. "One day during a performance it all clicked," says McIntyre. "And then, when 'Gladiator' came out, I wanted to be in a film like that more than anything. Now, here I am!" When shooting on "Spartacus" began, McIntyre eased into the routine. "Bringing Liam in was as easy a transition as it could be," says Lawless, who had weathered the series' uncertainty both as a principal player and as the wife of executive producer Rob Tapert. "Because of who Liam is, and because everybody else is so good at their jobs, it smoothed over the discombobulation that comes from having a star disappear from your roster." But that doesn't mean Whitfield was forgotten, or he isn't missed as Spartacus fights on. "This great journey that I get to go on now — there are times when I just get so sad 'cause it seems so unfair that someone who had this exact experience a couple of years ago isn't here to enjoy it now," says McIntyre, his eyes damp in a way you wouldn't associate with Spartacus. "It's a shame." Source     3 February 2012 New gladiator enters fight in 'Spartacus' What a different vision these two stars of "Spartacus: Vengeance" offer in person. Here is Lucy Lawless: In her Starz adventure-action series, she builds on worldwide fame as Xena, Warrior Princess, by playing wily Lucretia, widow of the Roman sports impresario. Her "ludus," an extreme training camp for gladiators, was where Spartacus had been enslaved. Transported from first century B.C. Capua to modern-day Manhattan, Lawless, 43 — in bright sweater and snug jeans — is pretty, girlish and full of laughs. Alongside her for this recent interview is Liam McIntyre, who this season is taking over the role of Spartacus. Unlike the raging Thracian out to forge an army and topple the Roman Empire, McIntyre is chipper, affable and ready with wisecracks. The first season concluded two years ago in a brutal rebellion led by Spartacus at the ludus. Roman blood flowed and his masters' bodies dropped. Among the many victims were seemingly Lucretia. Now the saga picks up just a few weeks later with the gladiators having made their escape and Spartacus plotting widespread payback to their oppressors. And Lucretia makes her shocking return. "She's lost everything," says Lawless. "She's lost her husband, her baby, her lover, the house, her status — and her marbles." "Spartacus: Vengeance" retains a potent mix of hyper-realism and epic fantasy, with generous helpings of violence, nudity, sex and other visual pizzazz. But real-life tragedy, too, is a part of the story. Andy Whitfield, who originated the role of Spartacus, announced in March 2010 that he was stricken with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. That May, a six-episode prequel concentrating on characters other than Spartacus was set for the following year, to give Whitfield time off for treatment. But a few months later when the cancer returned, he announced his departure from the show. Last September, he died at age 39. "Being a fan of the show, I loved Andy's Spartacus so much," says McIntyre, now 29. "He wasn't just an action hero. In my auditions I tried to capture the heart that I felt in Spartacus due to Andy's great performance." "The show needed someone who could not only carry the role that Andy had created," Lawless adds, "but also bring something of his own that was authentic." But McIntyre was hardly Spartacus-brawny when he got to the set in New Zealand for his audition. "I'd never liked my body," he confides, "and my nightmare was to be filmed in underwear. I was no body builder. I was just this guy who liked sports and video games." It took months of grueling training for McIntyre to bulk up to Spartacus proportions — "that kind of intense exercise is horrible," he cringes — and only then, finally, to clench the role. His selection to inherit Spartacus' leather Speedo was announced last January. The ailing Whitfield supported McIntyre as the recasting choice, and offered to meet with his successor, "which I thought was amazingly big-hearted considering everything he was going through." Whitfield's failing health prevented their getting together, "but we exchanged emails," says McIntyre, "and I feel very blessed to have those." The Australian-born McIntyre, who made his U.S. television debut two years ago in HBO's miniseries "The Pacific," became an actor in an unlikely way, while studying business in Ireland on a student-exchange program. A chum inveigled him to take a role in a school production, and after first resisting, he got the bug. "One day during a performance it all clicked," says McIntyre. "And then, when 'Gladiator' came out, I wanted to be in a film like that more than anything. Now, here I am!" When shooting on "Spartacus" began, McIntyre eased into the routine. "Bringing Liam in was as easy a transition as it could be," says Lawless, who had weathered the series' uncertainty both as a principal player and as the wife of executive producer Rob Tapert. "Because of who Liam is, and because everybody else is so good at their jobs, it smoothed over the discombobulation that comes from having a star disappear from your roster." But that doesn't mean Whitfield was forgotten, or he isn't missed as Spartacus fights on. "This great journey that I get to go on now — there are times when I just get so sad 'cause it seems so unfair that someone who had this exact experience a couple of years ago isn't here to enjoy it now," says McIntyre, his eyes damp in a way you wouldn't associate with Spartacus. "It's a shame." Source     3 February 2012 Futon Critic Interview: "Spartacus: Vengeance" Creator Steven S. DeKnight While much of the talk about the new "Spartacus" season (subtitled "Vengeance") has been about actor Liam McIntyre stepping into the big shoes of the late Andy Whitfield in the title role, there is also much more for fans to buzz about - the return of Lucy Lawless, whose Lucretia seemed to have killed at the end of the "Blood And Sand" season and just what exactly does everyone have to be vengeful about in the new episodes that start airing tonight on Starz. The best person to ask about all of the above as well as which "Spartacus" character he most relates to and what his next big project is would be series creator Steven S. DeKnight, who sat down with our Jim Halterman at the recent Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in Pasadena. Jim Halterman: Let's first talk about Liam, who I thought did a great job in the first episode of "Vengeance." He really does seem to make the role his own. Did you have a lot of casting choices for the role or was he really it from the time you met him? Steven S. DeKnight: No. We scoured the world for him and it was impossible to cast the first time around but even harder the second time around because Andy was so iconic and we loved him so much and he was such a revelation and a discovery. So when Andy had to step back from the role we were faced with the impossible challenge of trying to find somebody to come in and take up the mantle. We narrowed it down to three or four choices and then brought everybody in for a screen test and poor Liam weighed like twenty pounds at that point because he'd lost all this weight for another movie and in the screen test we had them in the costumes... so there was some concern about that. And [also] the other actors were great. We had some great, great choices, and they have all gone on to fantastic things but there was something that kept us coming back to Liam. And for us, when we were looking for the role originally and for the recast, with Spartacus, we want somebody that can really convey that wounded heart and compassion, which was just so important and Liam just exuded that kind of hurt that we needed. And then we had to try to fatten him up a little. JH: With the subtitle Vengeance, is it safe to say that pretty much everybody has a score to settle this season? SD: Everybody's got an ax to grind. JH: Now that Spartacus is free from being a slave is his biggest fear losing that freedom again? Or is that not his biggest fear? SD: I don't think that's his biggest fear. You know, Spartacus is such an interesting and difficult character to write for because he suffered such an injury when he lost his wife and it's an injury that quite frankly he will never get over. We have a relationship with him and Mira (Katrina Law) that we started building at the end of season one but the specter of what he's lost will always haunt him. So I think more than losing his freedom again, his biggest concern that the people that he cares about don't suffer the same fate that the ones that he's already loved and lost have suffered, particularly Sura (Erin Cummings) and Varro (Jai Courtney) in that he's very keen on making sure... he's so about keeping everybody safe. JH: I'm personally so happy that Lucy Lawless is back but did you guys have regrets that you couldn't do the same with John Hannah or was it just impossible? SD: There was a lot of worry and discussion at the end of season one when I decided to kill everybody. It's unheard of... you can't kill everybody. JH: But you did it! SD: Yeah. And we all loved John. I mean, John was just... I always say in interviews when people ask me, 'Well, what character are you closest to?' I am Batiatus, I mean that's my inner monologue. I may not go to the villainous extremes as he is, but you know, I'm just as profane and ranty as he is and he was my alter ego. But in the story, he had to die. For that moment to work, Spartacus had to kill him, and I also always say in Spartacus that if you're killed off, one thing I promise you is you'll go in a grand fashion. I mean, you get a good exit. But there was a lot of concern about [it] because he brought such a complicated depth and humor to the show. But he had to go. And along with that, Lucretia had to go too. Originally I was adamant that she had to die for this story to work. Rob [Tapert, Executive Producer] called me up towards the end of season one and said, 'Starz really would like Lucy to come back.' And I said, 'Absolutely not. Lucretia has to die. That's what we've been planning for all along.' And much to his credit he goes, 'Okay. I totally agree. That's fine.' Then, I called him up the next morning and said, 'I have an idea. I have an idea I'm very excited about, about how to end and wrap around that story even better.' So we actually shot it both ways, one where she's absolutely, unequivocally dead and another one where she's still twitching. It was down to the wire. We weren't sure which one we were going to use because he was trying to work everything out. But thankfully, she lived and she is a major, major force in 'Vengeance.' JH: The relationship between Spartacus and Crixus (Manu Bennett) is an interesting one. Even when they disagree, which they do, will they always be working together in the new season? SD: They have a very impetuous relationship. They're together although they have some dust-ups, where they're not on the same side. That was always the plan because I don't ever want the rebel forces really to get along. There are moments where they're all together, but historically, they came together, they broke apart, they came together. There was a lot of infighting and I definitely want to explore that because everybody had their own needs and agenda. And the Crixus/Spartacus relationship had always been very, very complicated. I mean, Crixus hated him for so long and then kind of respected him and now it's this odd relationship that they really are like brothers. And we'll play that to the full extent of the emotion. JH: I love what I've seen so far but when you bring someone back from the dead, do you ever worry about it becoming soapy? It's kind of a fine line there, right? SD: I think soap gets a bad wrap. I think soap really got the bad wrap maybe because of soap operas, which there's still a lot of good stuff in there. When most people think of soap they think of suddenly there's and evil twin and that kind of thing but really, ultimately, the soap is just good human drama. I mean, that's what we really want on the show is good human drama. And we have no problem embracing the soapier elements of this show. I'm very influenced by Robert E. Howard and Shakespeare and a lot of Shakespeare's stuff is very soapy when you actually look at it. So we have no problem embracing those soapy elements, which I think are very important for the show. JH: I have to say one of my favorite scenes in the first episode is the raid on the whorehouse. SD: Ah, yes. Yes. JH: And I almost felt guilty pleasure in watching the attack in the first episode on the whorehouse. I mean, first you're just watching all the sex happening but then when all the murders start I was just like, 'This is why we love the show.' SD: Yeah. Exactly. It's funny, when we were breaking that episode, on the board for weeks it said, 'Brothel Attack,' and we just loved that idea. JH: Do you feel like you always have to kind of top yourself in a lot of the big scenes like that? SD: You know, we actually never worry about that. For us it's not about topping ourselves. For us it's just about exploring interesting things to do and emotional things. For instance, the brothel attack, it all has an emotional through-line that's very important to the story and the characters. So what we try to do is never just to have any kind of violence or sex for the main characters that doesn't have to do with the emotions of the story. JH: Watching the show you would think, 'Well, this is the most uncensored a show could get.' But is there stuff that you guys know you can't get away with either because of Starz or just because you just don't want to go there? SD: There are things that we throw out every now and then, it's like, 'No, I don't want to go there.' And it's interesting in that brothel attack, there's a couple of things in there, in the original cut, that I saw and I was like, 'Ah, I want to cut this stuff out because I think it's too much.' That stuff will be on the DVD so you guys can see it. In my commentary I think I actually say, 'This is the part I didn't like because I thought it was too much.' So there are moments that we do shoot something where we are like, 'Yeah, I don't think we should actually do that.' JH: For everything that 'Spartacus' is and knowing that it's coming out of you, what would people be surprised to know about you? That maybe like is the total opposite of what we think from watching the show? SD: I'm a hopeless romantic. I love romance stories. Give me a 'Manon Of The Spring' and 'Jean de Florette' any day. I love that stuff. Really, despite all the sex and violence, that's how I approach 'Spartacus.' If you really look at it, all the characters... it's about love. It's about love, lost love, it's about regrets, that's really what drives the story. All the other stuff - the sex, the violence - [are] all trappings of the world. But really, at its core, it's about a man who lost his wife and is struggling to deal with it. JH: Who are you most surprised of the audience that watches the show that you wouldn't expect? SD: I was shocked that we're really big among middle-aged women. JH: I wouldn't think that. SD: Yes. Huge. And I think they respond to the sexuality and the romance of the show, which was a great revelation. You know, we're often asked, 'Well, did you tailor this for the male 19- 35 audience?' And Rob and I always said, 'We didn't tailor it for anybody. We tailored it for... here's a story we want to tell, so hopefully somebody will watch it.' Because we got a lot of questions also, 'did we try to make it broadly appealing?' And God, you look at the show, well hell no, we didn't. We had a singular vision... the vision was a little rocky at the start so we refined it, but we wanted to tell this kind of visceral, emotional, grand, romantic, violent story. JH: Are you the kind of person that when you're done with this you have to go do something completely different or do you kind of want to stay in this vein or... ? SD: For the last two and a half, three years, it's been 'Spartacus' 24/7. With my new overall deal with the incredibly generous Starz, I am finally actually writing the next big project, which I can't tell you anything about except it's not a historical period piece and it's gigantic. It is huge. And I'm very excited about it and hopefully come summer we'll be able to announce it. JH: I'm thinking another love story. SD: There's love in it. I can't do a story without love in it. Source     2 February 2012 'Spartacus' actor hopes work honors predecessor Getting cast to play the lead role in the Starz series "Spartacus: Vengeance" has been bittersweet for Aussie actor Liam McIntyre. He was excited to get the starring spot in a cable series, but he felt a great sense of responsibility because he took over the role originated by Andy Whitfield, who had to withdraw from the series after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of blood cancer. Whitfield died in 2011 at the age of 39. "I've never seen a sadder person than the producer that had to come down and actually pass that news on to what is really a family," McIntrye says of hearing of Whitfield's passing. "Part of the triumph of the team was coming together after a little bit of down time to say, 'We owe Andy the respect to do this job as best we can. Let's come together, and let's do the best damn show we can.' We pulled ourselves together and we did excellent work until the end of the season. What else can you do?" That work can be seen in the season which picked up after the bloody escape from the House of Batiatus that concluded "Spartacus: Blood and Sand." Gaius Claudius Glaber and his Roman troops go to Capua to stop the rebellion by the freed slaves being led by Spartacus. McIntyre has worked in theater, television and film. He made his U.S. debut as Bell Captain Lew in HBO's "The Pacific." That he got cast as the muscled Spartacus surprised McIntyre because he had lost 45 pounds for a previous role. Once he landed the part, the real work started. "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 lift really heavy weights to run and lift heavy weights a lot, and it went for three or four months, and then they finally put me out of my misery and then said, 'Keep training,' " he says. "Every moment through that process was really exciting because it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before." Once he finally got to the script, it became obvious to McIntyre that this season would have all the blood and battles of the first but also present a new chapter in the life of Spartacus. The character will put aside his personal pain to become a natural leader. The fun part of the job started once he got on set. McIntyre couldn't stop smiling because he got paid to run around fighting with swords. He calls it one of the most exciting things he could imagine, "let alone have the privilege of doing." He wants to do his best to honor Whitfield. Source       2 February 2012 IGN - The New Spartacus Would Rather Play Video Games IGN talks to the new Spartacus, Liam McIntyre, about awkward nude scenes, painful boot camps and why he'll always be a gamer. We're just a day away now from the unleashing – nay, the unsheathing! – of Spartacus: Vengeance on Starz. As you all know, the titular role of Spartacus had to be recast after star Andy Whitfield dropped out of the series due to his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A disease that ultimately, and tragically, claimed his life last September. Having gotten Andy's personal blessing to continue the series without him, EP and creator Steven S. DeKnight led a global casting call to find the new Spartacus. Liam McIntyre, Andy's fellow Australian, won the part after a rather extensive auditioning process; described by DeKnight as the search for an actor who exudes a "sense of pain and compassion." IGN had a chance to speak with Liam McIntyre about his new role, giant billboards with his face on them, awkward nude scenes, painful boot camps and why he'll always, no matter what happens with the series, be a gamer. IGN TV: I follow you on Twitter (@Liam_J_McIntyre) and a while back you posted a pic of a giant billboard of the show, with you in it, and you seemed to be a bit shocked. How are you dealing with things? Liam McIntyre: I'm really good at dealing with things on the outside so inside me I have no idea what's truly happening. So when people ask me "Are you ready for this?" I'm just like "Sure." When stuff comes up I can usually deal with it or when things go out of control you just switch to a mode where you can step back and go "All right. I'm fine with this, no matter what's happening." So there's part of that in me. But also, who has their giant face in Times Square? That's ridiculous. [laughs] It's mental. I was in a movie theater when I saw it, looking to see what movies were playing. It's not real life. It's a crazy world. But, yeah. I'm fine with it. I'm dealing with it. But I really don't get it. It's a double-edge sword. It's so crazy that it's almost okay. Click here for full interview           2 February 2012 AssignmentX talks with SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE's Lucy Lawless and creator Steven S. DeKnight SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE, which premieres tonight on Starz at 10 PM, is actually the second season of the SPARTACUS series, even though it’s the third year of the show. Series creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight understands how this might cause some head-scratching. In 2010's SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND, Andy Whitfield starred as the famous historical figure. The season followed him through his early days of being enslaved, being trained as a gladiator and finally leading a revolt at the Ludus (gladiator training camp) that left its owner Batiatus (John Hannah) definitively dead and Batiatus' pregnant wife Lucretia, played by Lucy Lawless, probably mortally wounded but still twitching. Sadly, while Season Two was being planned, Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Waiting for Whitfield to return to the show after he underwent treatment, the SPARTACUS company decided to do SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, a prequel season of six episodes, which ran in 2011, showing the earlier days of Lucretia and Batiatus and introducing Dustin Clare as Gannicus, a fighter who later figures into Spartacus' story. Then Whitfield's remission ended and it became unhappily clear that his health would not allow him to return to the series. Whitfield passed away on September 11, 2011, but gave his blessing to his SPARTACUS colleagues to recast the role and continue making the show. SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE went forward with Liam McIntyre as Spartacus. DeKnight understands how the fractured timeline can lead to mix-ups. "VENGEANCE is actually Season Two," he explains. "It confuses everybody." Between them, DeKnight and Lawless have enough genre street cred to give rise to a two-person convention. Lawless in fact will be at a Creation Convention in Burbank this weekend honoring her indelible title character in XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS; she also played the Cylon D'Anna in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. DeKnight has been a writer, producer and director on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and SMALLVILLE. They tease each other often during a private interview during the Television Critics Association press tour at the Langham Hotel inPasadena. DeKnight's fellow executive producer and Lawless' husband Robert Tapert is just around the corner, giving interviews of his own ASSIGNMENT X: If you weren't going into Season Two, would you have liked to extend GODS OF THE ARENA? STEVE DeKNIGHT: When I first suggested the idea of the prequel, I suggested a two-hour movie to keep the show alive, but it really didn't help anybody, and then Rob suggested four hours, and that didn't quite work with the writing, it wasn't long enough for a convoluted story, and it was too long for a nice short story, and then Starz wanted to do six episodes, and that was just right. I think any longer, GODS OF THE ARENA wouldn't have worked, and any shorter, it wouldn't have worked. AX: In SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, you had the bookend sequences that began and ended with the events at the end of Season One, so when does VENGEANCE, Season Two, start in terms of the story? DeKNIGHT: Somewhere six to eight weeks after the breakout in Season One. AX: Is that enough time for Lucretia to have recovered from being nearly killed, or is she still recovering? LUCY LAWLESS: Evidently she is not fully recovered. We find her when she's in quite a state. I loved [acting] it, but I got a little bit lost inside myself [laughs], so it was an uncomfortable two weeks of actual madness. DeKNIGHT: Rob must have loved that. LAWLESS: Oh, he didn't notice. [Both laugh.] LAWLESS: I just had no reference, so I did way too much research that I don't know was particularly helpful, because I lost my bearings a little. I needed somebody else to take the reins at times – the director being the one to have the taste of how to play this thing. He reined me in. AX: Now, because Lucretia didn't run off with Spartacus et al – LAWLESS: I wasn't invited, okay? AX: Can you tease at all how she's worked back into the story and how much of a challenge was it to work her back into the story? DeKNIGHT: It worked really organically. Lucretia originally was supposed to die at the end of Season One. We loved the character so much that Starz asked, "Is there any way to bring her back?" And Rob called me up and said, "Starz would really like to bring Lucy back." I said, "So would I – but she has to die! There's no way to bring her back!" Rob said, "Okay." And that night, I had an idea and I called Rob the next morning: "I've got an idea of how to bring Lucy back that I think is really, really juicy." And it was really down to the wire. That's why we filmed it both ways at the end of Season One, one where she's twitching and one where she's clearly dead, because we weren't really sure at that time which way we were going to go. It was actually very natural. She basically never leaves the Ludus. That's where we find her when we come back and I don’t think it's giving a lot away that we re-use Batiatus' Ludus in a different way this season and she's part and parcel with the Ludus. AX: How is Liam McIntyre different from the late Andy Whitfield in playing Spartacus? DeKNIGHT: With Liam, we were looking for someone to fill those sandals. We weren't looking for an Andy clone, because quite frankly, nobody could replace Andy. He was such a singular talent. We were looking for somebody that had similar qualities. And what was great about Andy is that he had this quality of compassion that was really important for the character. When we were auditioning people, one of the things we told the casting directors is, "Spartacus may go into a mad rage and kill everybody, but it's not from a place of anger, it's from a place of a wounded heart," and that kind of pain and compassion is what we were looking for, and that's what Liam had in his auditions. And then there was a lot of talk about, should we write Spartacus specifically for Liam, should we change the way we’re writing him? And we decided, no, we'll write Spartacus as Spartacus, and Liam will bring his own [qualities]. LAWLESS: Liam has a leadership quality that I think is really important to Spartacus now that he's out on the road and he's got to bring all these disparate peoples together as an army. Liam is very outgoing in that way, so I think his strengths play really well to the requirements of the role. AX: Besides recuperating from her injuries, how is Lucretia different than we've seen her before? LAWLESS: She's a kinder, gentler Lucretia [laughs]. She wants everyone to love her, because they'd better, because something bad's going to happen if she doesn't find a friend, and quick. Fortunately,Olympia's around, and she should be an easy mark. [Lucretia] does find a little friend, somebody she's never paid much attention to before, and he falls in love with her. By the end of the season, all Lucretia's dreams will come true. Click here for full interview       2 February 2012 Spartacus: Vengeance Actors on Conflict, Leadership and Survival In the lead-up to tonight's premiere of Spartacus: Vengeance, four of the show’s returning cast, Manu Bennett (Crixus), Nick Tarabay (Ashur), Craig Parker (Gaius Claudius Glaber) and Dan Feurriegel (Agron), spoke with reporters about the new season of Starz's hit sword-and-sandals drama. It was clear from the conversation that the actors get along with each other, something Bennett attributed to the fact that they all enjoy the series. But when it came to the question of who’s the biggest prankster on the set, there was some disagreement, with Tarabay suggesting if a camera captured what the actors do behind the scenes, it would be a comedy. Parker said such an atmosphere was necessary, however. "While these characters are doing terrible things to each other, as actors we are playing with each other," he said. "We're having the great joy and pleasure of working on great scripts with great actors. So the humor does become very black and very twisted, but it definitely has to be there, I think." The new season picks up in the aftermath of the bloody escape from the House of Batiatus in Spartacus: Blood and Sand, with the gladiator rebellion striking fear into the heart of the Roman Republic. But as the revolt takes hold, Gaius Claudius Glaber and his troops are sent to Capua to crush the growing band of former slaves, leaving Spartacus with a choice: satisfy his thirst for vengeance or make the sacrifices necessary to keep his fledgling army together. Asked about new leading man Liam McIntyre, all four admitted the chemistry changed with his addition to the cast. However, they had nothing but praise for the actor, whom they described as humble and goodhearted — something they said was also true of the late Andy Whitfield. "Liam came on to our set with a very open heart, and I think there’s something very Spartacus about that," Bennett said. "Liam is a very humble person and has gifted us all with his openness. And that reads itself into the role." Click here for full interview     2 February 2012 Catching up with Lucy Lawless of 'Spartacus: Vengeance' She became an icon on the campy but highly successful television series "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995-2001). At 43, Lucy Lawless remains fit for battle -- or, in the case of her current series, "Spartacus: Vengeance," nudity. Among the New Zealander's other assets is her voice. She once considered opera as a career path. Although Lawless is heterosexual, married twice with three children, Xena's sexuality was always suspect. In the last episode, the Warrior Princess basically came out of the closet, which garnered Lawless a loyal lesbian following. Currently, she is playing Lucretia, a Roman woman who has lost everything and stops at nothing to regain her power and position. "Spartacus: Vengeance" airs on the premium channel Starz at 10 p.m. EST Fridays. Nudity, violence and a lot more make it appropriate for mature audiences only. Excerpts from an interview: Q: Were you into science fiction or mythology as a child? A: No -- zero. We did lots of acting, my friend Michelle and I. We were always adapting fairy tales and things and putting them on for the old folks. My mother ran the senior-citizens brigade or whatever it was called. So we would do that sort of thing all the time as play. I don't know how this happened to me. Q: I also read you were interested in opera at one point, but decided against it because you didn't like the lifestyle. A: Well, I thought I'd have to be a big fatty. No, no, really, the truth is that's not my gift to sing that way. So even though I love singing to this day, not opera but other things, acting just comes first. Q: How comfortable are you doing the semi-nude and nude scenes? A: Not at all, zero comfortable. Oh, God, it makes me sick. Q: It doesn't get easier? A: No, it doesn't. You'd think it would, but it doesn't. But you know what? You believe in the role, and you just soldier on through and be as professional as you can because the scenes are not about sex. I don't care what anyone says, it's not porn. There's a transaction of power going on. Somebody's getting screwed, and it's not about sex. (Laughs). Q: So with that said, there has to be pressure to stay in shape. A: Yes, I try, but (laughs) that's a mystery to me, that whole discipline thing. I do work out with a trainer, but I don't know. You can go 10 pounds up and maybe 3 pounds down but tend to stay in a certain zone. Q: Is your character on "Spartacus" more challenging to play than Xena was? A: Yeah, because Xena had a moral compass that we relate to. Lucretia doesn't. I think if you live in a society where subterfuge is the order of the day, then there is no morality. Everybody is stabbing one another in the back. It's stab or be stabbed, and she's survived a long time. She's got her work cut out for her this season because things get really nasty. She is going to have to be extremely vigilant and clever to survive. Q: Does it enhance your acting if you know the arc the character will be taking a few episodes ahead? A: I think it's really important to know. You don't telegraph that to the audience, but I think it's very important to know. I remember on "Xena" we would set up for something being a fact and true and all your acting would sort of cleave to that rule, and three episodes later you are doing something completely the opposite. (Laughs) It kind of makes a liar of you. For instance, in the last episode when they almost explicitly came out and said that Xena was gay, I was cross with them. All these years, they could have told me that ahead of time that they were going to do that. I wouldn't have had to sort of obfuscate. In this case ("Spartacus"), it was extremely important. By the end of this season when you see the final episode, I guarantee you're going to say, "Oh my God, now I have to go back and watch it again from the beginning." It's like a feature film. Q: With the sex scenes, do you find it easier to do them with a man or a woman, or does it matter? A: I find it easier to do with a man. To me, a man feels like I expect they are going to feel (laughs) and a woman doesn't. (Laughs) Even fat dudes feel differently to me than a woman. (Laughs) Just when you touch the flesh, it's different. I guess that means I'm straight. Q: You have fans in both camps. A: I know. I love them. But I know all I need to know. (Laughs) Q: What about the choreography? Is it as complex as a fight scene? A: Oh, it's much more complex. Q: What about your sons? Do you think about them seeing (the sex scenes) someday? A: Oh, I do. I think about them a lot. One of them is a very sensitive person, and he knows academically that I have to do those scenes. It's part of a role. But he does not want to see it. He does not want to see any part of it. The other one is like his dad. He's just a moviemaker. Even though he's younger than the other boy, he's much more able to cope with everything to do with acting. When he gets old enough to see it, I will be less worried about him. My daughter works on the show. I think at 23 years old it still grosses her out. When those scenes are on, she turns her back or she's not on the set. She doesn't punish me at all for it. She's very professional. Source     2 February 2012 Spartacus:Vengeance DVD/Blu-Ray available for pre-order Amazon has "Spartacus:Vengeance" available pre-order. Special features description: Includes never-before-seen bonus features including featurettes, extended scenes and content too risqué for cable television.   DVD Pre-Order Blu-Ray Pre-Order     2 February 2012 InsideTV Podcast: Who would win a Xena vs. Spartacus duel to the death? Lucy Lawless and Liam McIntyre argue it out Spartacus kicks off again tonight with a new season, a new title (Spartacus: Vengeance) and a new leading man (Liam McIntyre, taking over for Andy Whitfield). But don’t worry, the show hasn’t changed too much. After all, there are still plenty of orgies, decapitations, and decapitations during orgies! In celebration of the Starz drama’s return this evening, McIntyre and costar Lucy Lawless stopped by the InsideTV Podcast, and wouldn’t you know it — all hell broke loose! In addition to discussing the ins and outs — no pun intended — of season 2 (which included McIntyre stabbing a man in the penis for his very first scene), the duo was grilled on a variety of topics. Such as: How does Lucy feel about losing the coveted Celebrity Duets title to Alfonso Ribeiro? And what kind of Super Bowl prediction is Patriots fan Liam ready to make while sitting here in the enemy territory of New York City? But we saved the best question for last: Who would win in a battle between Spartacus and Lucy’s iconic warrior princess, Xena? Not surprisingly, our two guests have very differing opinions on the matter. Click here to listen to the podcast       2 February 2012 Lawless: New 'Spartacus' an expert in leading 'dudes in their underpants' Swords-and-sandals epic lovers arise and claim your show: "Spartacus: Vengeance" is slashing its way back onto the Starz network on Jan. 27 with a new season of battles, escapes, affairs and intrigue. But there will be one major difference: Spartacus himself has been replaced. Fans of the show are familiar with the untimely death of character originator Andy Whitfield, who portrayed the rebellious slave in "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" in 2010 before being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. "It's a horrifying thing to get everything you ever wanted – a wife, two children, your big break – and after one year, a horrifying diagnosis," Lucy Lawless, who stars as Lucretia, told TODAY.com. "We thought he'd go into treatment, we'd execute a prequel and he'd come back. But that never happened." Well, the prequel, "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" did happen, but Whitfield did not return. Enter Liam McIntyre, an Australian actor who some may have spotted in HBO’s "The Pacific," but who is mostly unknown. "(Whitfield) wanted the show to continue," Lawless said. "He requested that they replace him quite early on, and even rang Liam to encourage him and congratulate him. He was a big man, and we remember him fondly for that. The tragedy was really his family's, and our loss is nothing compared to his." McIntyre slips easily into the role, but he's more than just a new face, said Lawless. "He's a great morale leader on the set, which is what you need when you're leading 100 dudes in their underpants around without much to do for long periods at a stretch. They can get a bit ... distracted. They're totally nice, but you need someone to help focus on the work, and Liam has that kind of charisma." Click here for full interview     2 February 2012 Manu Bennett sounds the charge for all to watch 'Spartacus: Vengeance' now Discussing survival is no small topic for actor Manu Bennett. As one of the breakout stars from the hit Spartacus series, the Maori-born Bennett found much in common with his gladiator alter ego, Crixus. His story is also one of the Warrior, determined to perfect his physical self in a focused bid to overcome life’s challenges. Find out more in a truly personal chat with Bennett as he discusses the parallels of his real life to be found in his work as the battle scarred champion of Blood and Sand,and Gods of the Arena and the new Vengeance. And, as a bonus, watch the series premiere of Vengeance on show's website before its Starz premiere tonight. It is fitting that an actor playing a gladiator would be someone who would fearlessly offer his purest self in an interview setting. But, that was the case with New Zealand-born star Manu Bennett. As one of the brawny champions of the smash hit Spartacus series, Bennett has no problem with the heavy lifting required for his role as Crixus, an embattled champion seeking freedom. Yet, reasons exist as to why he has chosen to bulk up, and not just to offer the eye candy that has become the show’s trademark. "I lost my mother and my brother when I was 15 in two separate car accidents," Bennett revealed. "I was doing well at school. I was a good sportsperson, but at that point, I gave up on all of those things that were there to be done. I couldn't deal with them." It is disarming just how matter of fact Bennett offered up this very personal detail about his youth. And, he did not retreat from explaining how he ventured into the arts by willing himself into becoming a veritable renaissance youth. "I dealt with my condition by acting it out," Bennett continued, "by going onto the dance floor, by playing piano. I got into a lot of the artistic expressions to try to deal with that angst. I'm sure that to some degree, the heart and the passion and the sorrow and the anger that's in Crixus is still part of me as that person." Click here for full interview     2 February 2012 TV Tango Interviews Lucy Lawless of SPARTACUS TV Tango: What was it like filming that last, bloody scene in BLOOD AND SAND? Lucy Lawless: Sticky, all wet.A hard floor. The tiles on that floor -- I don't know what the hell they were made out of, but they were sharp. They did put down a rubber version of them for a tiny bit.It was fine, but it was sticky. Arrrr...so gross! I hate it when they pour sticky blood all down your dress, and your legs are sticking together in the most unpleasant way -- sort of caramelizing. TV Tango: They filmed two endings for BLOOD AND SAND. When did you know that your character, Lucretia, was going to live? Lucy Lawless: After. After we shot it.I think even though I didn't know -- and I would've been fine either way -- I think I had a sense that Lucretia would be back. I didn't panic about it, and I think that's why I don't remember. I don't remember it upsetting me; I just had a calm awareness. TV Tango: The finale of BLOOD AND SAND was not what Lucretia imagined or wanted. What would the ending have been if it was up to her? What was she going after? Lucy Lawless: The whole kit and kaboodle -- the husband, the baby, and status for the first time in her life. I don't think she came from status; she's one of the aspirant, hard-working, lower-middle-class girls. Her husband was her true love. Who knows what would have happened down the line, but that was her man -- beyond the need to have the male support in Roman society at that time and the status that came with that man. Aside from all of that, I think she loved him. He was a megalomaniac. She did whatever he told her to do -- she didn't want to throw those sex parties. Click here for full interview     1 February 2012 Starry Mag interviews Viva Bianca Q. What are some of the recent projects that you've been working on? A. I did a couple of movies and a show in between season one and season two of "Spartacus," but "Spartacus" has definitely taking up most of my time for the past few years. Q. What can you tease is new this season for the show and about your character? A. I think I was real lucky to have been cast in the role of Ilithyia. She first appeared in season one and kind of came across as ditzy, young, naïve, spoiled, and brattish. Then, as the show progressed, she revealed herself to be a lot more cunning, intelligent, and even evil. As we entered season two the great thing is her dimensions just continue to expand and I'm really happy to say that I think she's become a really fully rounded human being. Something to tease about the show, Ilythia is pregnant at the beginning of this year and that leads to a whole lot of questions, and then a massive secret to be revealed. She has a very good reason for keeping it. Q. What is it about your role that you continue to find challenging? A. You know, that's a really good question because an actor you are taught show your emotions, your emotional experience in your mind, and it can be really draining when you're having to go and kind of build up these experiences to give to your character. Where does it come from? I suppose most actors have a wide range of life experience and then you just draw upon whatever is needed in the moment to bring truth to the character. Q. Did the chemistry with the cast come naturally or did it take some time to develop? A. Really, the two actors that I work mostly with are Lucy Lawless and Craig Parker. My character's relationships are with the character Lucretia and then my character’s husband, Glaber. I felt from the minute I met these guys there was a chemistry for me. Then working with Lucy is like a life-long friendship. She’s been an incredible mentor for me on the show, and also a real friend. So it's such a pleasure to go to work and act along side these people, and Craig as well, who plays my husband. I mean we just from the very first time we stepped on set we just slipped into this so relaxed, easy relationship then as husband and wife, you know, we can be argumentative, or gentle and romantic, or manipulative. Our character's relationship goes through a very huge array of changes. Q. Do you have a really memorable moment from filming the show? A. There are so many funny things that happen on this show because, of course, it's a very risqué series so we are asked to do some scenes that to any actor would be confronting, and at times, it is hilarious. Craig is my husband and I had to do many intimate scenes with him, and there just were times that we couldn’t stop laughing. There was one time in particular where I had him pinned against a wall and was proceeding to make passionate love to him, and I had to call cut before the director did and ran off set while in hysterical laughter. Good thing I work with such nice people because it would be really uncomfortable to do scenes like that if they were assholes. Q. You're on the social networking site Twitter, what kind of feedback from the show have you been getting? A. I wasn't on Twitter or Facebook for season one so I didn't have that experience then, but now that we are about to premiere season two I'm not as stringent. I do have a Facebook account for fans, and I do have a Twitter account. I'm sure I will have a greater insight on the whole experience then, but I definitely have had a kind of momentum on these social networking sites that leading up to the premiere. The fans are getting me excited, and discussing it, and wanting information and all of that which is cool. Really, it's just incredible to have the support of the fans. The whole ensemble of the "Spartacus" cast are very grateful for their support.The feeling with the passing of Andy and the tragedy that has effected our whole production, we're very aware that this effected all of the fans and the industry alike, so for people to continue to support our show means a lot to all of us. Q. Do you have a personal website where those interested can go to keep up with you you? A. It's vivabianca.org, and then through that website you can find out the show Facebook fan page. Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters? A. I just want to say that I am incredibly humbled by everyone that has supported me and loves the show. Source     1 February 2012 Stars Manu Bennett, Nick Tarabay, Craig Parker, and Dan Feuerriegel Dish on SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE The Starz series SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE is best known for its super hot actors who portray some of the most driven, tenacious and survival-oriented men on television – gladiators fighting for their lives. In a recent press conference call, stars Manu Bennett (who portrays Crixus), Nick Tarabay (who portrays Ashur), Craig Parker (who portrays Glaber) and Dan Feuerriegel (who portrays Agron) on SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE candidly shared what drives these searing characters and what is upcoming for each of them this next season. With Liam McIntyre coming into the role of Spartacus, how has that changed the chemistry on set, if at all? DAN: Of course it's going to change chemistry because he's a completely different person. But as actors you just adapt to Liam's personality, and therefore that makes you change certain things here and there. That's just what we do. Liam did amazing in the first two episodes and he just keeps getting better and better. I think he did an absolutely fantastic job. And so of course it was different. But I felt as though no better/no worse. He was just Liam. He was just doing what he does and we all did what we did. And as seen in the first two episodes, this is how it was turning out. So I guess if you enjoy it, a lot of other people will enjoy it, and I'm certainly sure that everybody enjoyed working with him. I mean I can’t speak for everyone else, but I'm sure they'll say the same thing. NICK: No, no, no, I didn’t like working with Liam, not one bit! [Laughter] DAN: Well that's okay, no one liked working with you at all, Nick. I mean come on, now that we’re going to be honest here and start throwing stones. [Laughter] MANU: Liam came on to our set with a very open heart. He's never stopped discussing with all of us, his journey. And I think there's something very SPARTACUS about that. There's a very truthful pure quality to the man himself and that's what they needed to find. Andy [Whitfield] gave such an extraordinarily honest performance, and people were just so moved by that that it was almost an impossibility to find somebody to replace Andy. What they've found in Liam is somebody with an absolute truth. It's a different truth, but it's still the truth, as a person. And it’s wonderful to work with him because every day he brings an 'open book' that we all get to participate with. There were other people that came and read, and the acting world's an egotistical world and we could have gotten somebody who just got into the chariot and rode it as some kind of the next big thing. But Liam is a very humble person and has gifted us all with his openness — and that reads itself into the role. CRAIG: I think very first episode, which is a strange new episode — there's a new Spartacus; there's a new world that we're in. It's an odd episode, but by the end of it you fully embrace Liam as a different, but the new Spartacus and you're ready to go on the journey with him, which is quite wonderful. And, as Manu says, he doesn't in any way try to be Andy or to replicate that performance. He takes it as a whole new sort of slate and paints a very different Spartacus but a equally interesting and sort of diverse, and does a wonderful, wonderful job. NICK: I have to actually agree with all three of the guys. And one thing I've actually really liked about Liam was his heart. I mean he has such a good heart, and like Manu said, "He's very humble." And like when you talk to him outside of acting, when we just sit down and talk between scenes or at lunchtime or whatever, he's such a good person, and very dedicated to the work, that you see Spartacus in him, which made it very easy for all of us to see him as the new Spartacus. Liam is surrounded by really, really good actors and really, really good people that I think it made it easier for him too to get more into the character. So he's doing a great job. DAN: Yes, and he also respected where it all came from, and where he came from as well. He knew what he was up against with continually and just, as Manu said, "Modest and humble," in regards to what Andy did in the first season. And that's another magnificent part of Liam’s personality, which shines through as well. Click here for full interview     1 February 2012 SCIFI World interviews Cynthia Addai-Robinson Born in London, CYNTHIA ADDAI-ROBINSON, whose mother is from Ghana and father from America, moved with her mother to the United States and was raised in a Suburb of Washington, DC. CYNTHIA fell in love with acting at a very young age, performing in all her school plays and local productions. She furthered her love of the Arts when she went on to pursue a degree in Theatre at the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. After performing in several plays in New York, CYNTHIA moved to Los Angeles, and appeared on show such as CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, and Numbers. Her recent recurring roles include the F/X show Dirt and ABC's Flash Forward. She can currently be seen on the big screen in the Sony film Columbiana. CYNTHIA will next be seen on the hit Starz show Spartacus playing the series regular role of 'Naevia'. Gilles Nuytens: Hello and nice to meet you! Firstly I would like to know what drives you in life? Cynthia Addai-Robinson: What drives me in life ... that's a tough one! I am definitely someone who pushes myself, and as a result, I try to grow and learn along the way. So I guess I'd say my curiosity and my constant desire to learn and be open to new things. Gilles Nuytens: I see that you fell in love with acting at a very young age. Can you tell us more about this love for acting? Cynthia Addai-Robinson: My passion for acting is really about my love of being a storyteller. I come from a family of really animated storytellers! I think it may have somehow come from that. I was a really shy child, but being on a stage - having that platform - gave me permission to be outgoing and loud. I liked the fact that I could be the shy , quiet girl laying low and then surprise everyone with a performance that seemed so unlike me. I would say that holds true to this day. Gilles Nuytens: To follow up the previous question, what made acting more than a simple hobby? Why did you choose this profession instead of something else? Cynthia Addai-Robinson: My first experience with the "craft" of acting was when I was a teenager. I was looking for something to do one summer and applied to a pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon University. It really opened my eyes to the history and technique of acting, and it was exciting to be with like-minded people who were as passionate about acting as I was. After that I knew I wanted to go to college and pursue a degree in theater, and I still can't believe that my mother went along with it, but I am extremely lucky that she did. I could have taken a "safer" route and studied something practical, but nowadays that's no guarantee that you'll have it any easier than a starving artist. Better to starve for something you're hungry for. Gilles Nuytens: As an actress, what is the part of the job you are the less at ease with? And what is the one you are the most at ease with? Cynthia Addai-Robinson: I'm still navigating the world of social media. It's something I'm trying to embrace because I recognize that it's a great way to connect with people who are fans of your work. But I'm also a very private person, so I'm trying to find my comfort level in terms of what kind of information I share. I'm most at ease when I'm actually acting; as an actor, you're doing so many other things that are business-related, that sometimes acting becomes a small part of what you do. The rest of the time is spent reading, auditioning, doing press, etc. The other aspects of the job can be fun too, but acting definitely gives me the most satisfaction. Click here for full interview     1 February 2012 Dork Shelf interviews Viva Bianca of Spartacus:Vengeance With the second season premiere of the sword & sandals epic Spartacus just around the corner, we had the opportunity to talk with Australian actress Viva Bianca, who plays the manipulative Roman aristocrat Ilithyia on the Starz series. We discussed the untimely passing of Spartacus star Andy Whitfield, the show's second season, its depictions of sex and violence, and even had a little time to talk about Punky Brewster. Dork Shelf: First we'd like to express our sincere condolences on the passing of Andy Whitfield. He was insanely talented and a huge part of the show obviously, part of what made it such a big hit. He seemed like a hell of a guy. Viva Bianca: Thank you. Andy is an exceptional person and quite clearly a highly talented and charismatic actor. It's a great loss personally and also a great loss for the industry. DS: Agreed. So you character, Ilithyia, is one of my personal favourites on Spartacus. Tell me a little bit about how you joined the show. What drew you to the role initially? VB: Aw… thank you. Of course, that was a little while back now when we first started making the show it was 2009. I was cast from Australia and it was the biggest production I had ever been on. It was very exciting, but at that stage we didn't even really know what the show was going to be. I'm told that that's often the case with new series, particularly cable series on a network like Starz. So it was really kind of falling into the unknown. With regards to Ilithyia , I had no idea that she would emerge as the villain that she did emerge as. As you might recall she began as this bratty princess on the show, but the part just kept growing and twisting and unravelling. The great thing about season two is that audiences can expect to see even more complexity in the character, and even some vulnerability. DS: Watching Ilithyia in the second season so far, I'm reminded of some of the great TV villainesses of the 80s and 90s. That clear villainess who is always making power plays and scheming in the background. Have you drawn any inspiration from some of those classic archetypal characters? VB: No, I haven't conciously at least. But I watch film,TV, and go to the theatre a lot, so I think subliminally you're bound to draw inspiriation from various past performances. I think I'm always drawn to complex, strong women, but with any kind of character like that I would want to explore vulnerability, fragility, and softness. On the contrary, if I were to be playing a more vulnerable, fragile character, I'd always be looking for the strength or the dark side. So to me, it's about creating the most well-rounded, realized, and complex human being. DS: Well you're certainly achieving that in season two. What can you tell us about the new season? What can viewers expect? VB: In season three the stakes have risen across the board. Every single character wants something desperately and every single character is seeking vengeance. It's highly dramatic. For Ilithyia in particular, it's a seriously epic rollercoaster. She's fallen from grace, and she's grappling for her very livelyhood and survival. So she's a woman on the edge. DS: Okay, we're going to talk about some spoilers here, so reader beware. Ilithyia is pregnant, is it safe to say that Spartacus be the daddy? VB: That's a cheeky suggestion! We don't know that yet, but that's obviously a big question and a big secret to be revealed in season two, so stay tuned. DS: You and Lucy Lawless' character are growing much closer this season. The roles have almost flipped, now Ilithyia has become the manipulator. There's a great scene in episode two where Lucretia sacrifices the goat and you've got the knife, and there's that palpable tension. Are we going to see more of this new dynamic? VB: The relationship dynamic between those two women just becomes more co-dependant and complex. The writers gave us so much material to work with, so we were very fortunate. In addition to that, Lucy and I really took full advantage of one another, we had a great chemistry together and have become great friends off-screen. So it was a real delight playing through the drama in that relationship. I think what's really fundamental here is that Ilithyia becomes the doma of the house, of assiartus, and Lucretia has lost all of her power in that situation. Both characters find themselves in totally new territory. DS: You seem like you're constantly surrounded by burly fighting men on the show, do you ever get the desire to get in on that action? Duck into the writer’s room and ask if Ilithyia could maybe take up a sword every once in a while? VB: Oh no, I love being princess-y and pretty! Sitting on the lovely Persian cloth-covered loungers, sipping on wine and eating cherries. I'm quite happy with the decadence in which my character dwells, thank you very much. But not to spoil anything too major, there is a little bit of crossing of worlds for Ilithyia in the upcoming season. She doesn’t stay entirely clean, but that's all I can say. DS: Right on, that's something to look forward to! Not related to that, but obviously at the forefront of the show is the nudity. It almost always helps drive the story forward, but what's your take on how it's handled on the show? VB: First and foremost, whenever the prospect of nudity arises on the show in a particular scene or episode, there will always be a meeting about it with the director or the producers. What’s always discussed is the relevence of that scene to the story. The nudity and the sex scenes have to be driving the story forward in order for them to be appropriate and justified. I think that for all of the actors in the cast, that's kind of the unanimous philosophy. But doing sex scenes and doing nudity is never easy and never comfortable. It must be dealt with in the most clinical, professional, and respectful manner. And on this show it absolutely is, we're really protected. DS: The nudity never feels excessive or just there to be there. It's also very balanced. I've seen far more male genitalia in that season alone than I'd seen in my life up to that point. VB: That's a really good way of looking at it. You could never say that the show is objectifying women for the male gaze, because it certainly goes both ways. And another thing, the female characters on this show are ballsy and empowered and scheming. They're often the ones who are manipulating their husbands to get what they want. Ilithyia is a perfect example of that. She's an incredibly empowered and sophisticated lady in a world where women really didn't have much power. DS: Behind every strong man is a strong woman. Ilithyia is the powerhouse in that relationship. The Praetor may strut around puffing his chest, but you can tell that Ilithyia is the one scheming and pulling the strings. As did Lucy Lawless' character when the roles were reversed. VB: That's correct. The fun thing for me in season two is that I have my husband around. Glaber, played by the great Craig Parker, becomes the man of the house. I get to explore a wonderful character dynamic with Craig. The marriage between Ilithyia and Glaber is extraordinarily complex; passionate, but also manipulative and destructive. It goes down a really dark path in season two. DS: Oenomaus looks like he's going to play a big role in the return of the House of Batiatus. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s going on there? VB: Oenomaus is one of my favourite characters, he is so noble and stoic. Of course, played by the great Peter Mensah, one of my dear friends from the cast. He brings such a sophistication to the show that we're all so grateful for. He plays a note that none of us provide. His storyline stands apart from everyone elses, he's a solitary man that doesn’t take easily to the rebellion and Spartacus' cause. DS: It's certainly nice to see him return to the House of Batiatus. So we have to wrap up here, but we have to ask what is on your Dork Shelf? VB: This is a really hard question! Well, I must say that I'm gypsy so I don't have a home as such right now. I have a series of collectible dolls from my childhood that I've never thrown away. I've got an array of Barbie dolls and antique dolls, but I've recently started collecting little figurines of characters. For instance, I have a Punky Brewster doll that I've had since the late-80s when I was a little girl. For some reason I think it’s very cool. DS: Punky was of course the first true independant woman for a generation. VB: Punky rocked! The different coloured shoes, the pigtails, the freckles, the thing around her knee. She also had the phone that was a hamburger. DS: Thank you for your time, Viva. It has been wonderful chatting with you. VB: Really nice to meet you. Ciao!     1 February 2012 Viva Bianca on 'Spartacus: Vengeance,' Andy Whitfield's Passing, & Nude Scenes In early 2011, the producers of Starz's bloody gladiator series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, made the difficult decision of recasting the title role after their star, Andy Whitfield, waged an offscreen battle with cancer. Whitfield eventually succumbed to the disease last September, and this Friday, Spartacus will return to television for its second season, with a new title and a new lead. Actress Viva Bianca recalls the first few days of shooting Spartacus: Vengeance with a tinge of sadness in her voice, as she remembers her fallen costar and sings the praises of her new one, Liam McIntyre. Bianca, a native Australian, stars as Ilithyia, a conniving and ambitious daughter of a senator, and the wife of Gaius Claudius Glaber, the man responsible for Spartacus' enslavement. As its title implies, Spartacus is a bloody and violent show, and, with enough skin to rival Game of Thrones, it's one of the more risque series on television. We recently caught up with Bianca and spoke about regrouping after Whitfield's death, where her character is headed this season, and why undressing in front of the camera is no fun at all. Do you see this as a make it or break it season? I think there was more pressure on Season One, because the show was coming out of nowhere, but from what I understand, this is Starz's biggest hit original series, so it's already kind of proven itself in that way. It got really good ratings and developed a big following. But of course, what happened is our former Spartacus, Andy Whitfield, passed away, so that was a great tragedy and an incredible loss for all of us. But as a consequence, I think because the show really was so successful and had this momentum, the network decided to continue with the series and recast the role. So now we have an actor called Liam McIntyre playing Spartacus, and he's a very charming, talented young man. And I think that's really what people are going to be focusing on: How does he compare to the great Andy Whitfield? So the pressure's more on him than anyone, poor guy. When Andy passed away did it put the show in jeopardy? Well the truth is we were shooting Season Two by the time he passed, and that's because he had ben in treatment for cancer for 18 months, so the decision had to be made a while back. And it was just so hard for everyone. Was it an incredibly sensitive time on set when Liam started? I would imagine everyone was very supportive of him. Yeah, you only have to spend five minutes with the guy to feel so relaxed in his company and wish him well. He's a genuinely good guy, and he deserves this opportunity, and he brought so much integrity and wisdom and a sense of innocence to the role. And of course he can't try and emulate Andy and what Andy did with the role, because that would be fruitless, but what he can do is bring his own history to the role and his own imagination and impulse. I think that we all really respect him because he has done that. I'm not flagging him. Can you tease the second season for all the show's fans? The exciting thing about Spartacus: Vengeance is that on every possible level, with every possible character, the heat is on. As far as my character goes, there is a huge revelation of information that will be revealed around halfway through he season, and it's big and exciting I can't talk about it now, but it's a real kind of driving force for my character throughout the season. How did you discover this revelation? I was told the revelation by the producers and the writers, and then as an actor, I carried the secret throughout Season Two until it was revealed in the script. And that's one of the best things as an actor. Because I trained in Stanislavski, it's such a pleasure if your character has a secret. Talk to me about your character's evolution. In Season One, the character began as quite young, naïve, and spoiled and bratty, and kind of was corrupted by her relationships with some of the other characters, and very much revealed herself to be a villain. However, the great thing about now is that the writers have really invested in creating many dimensions to my character. And yes, there will continue to be that kind of scheming, plotting, and conniving, there's also going to be a nice revelation of vulnerability and humility as well. Are you happy with where she ends the season? Yes, it's such an awesome character wrap, I could never have dreamt it up. But it was exhausting. It’s all high stakes, it's all epic, like Greek tragedy meets Dangerous Liaisons. You're fighting for your life one day, and you're trying to seduce some teenage boy the next. You appear nude at several points throughout the show. Is that something you'll do, as long as it's not gratuitous? Nudity and sex scenes have to serve the story. They have to drive the story forward. That's always the case, and I don't know any single actor that enjoys doing it. It’s very uncomfortable and it has to be dealt with in the most clinical, sensitive, protected manner. And on this show, that's always been the case. It might seem kind of outlandish and sort of wild and free but at the same time it’s actually not in reality. Sometimes it's hilarious, actually. It's so not sexy when you’re doing it. It's hilarious. Source     1 February 2012 'Spartacus' Star Liam McIntyre Describes What He Took From Andy Whitfield's Performance From Hollywood Reporter: After a two-year wait, Starz premiered the second season of its original gladiator series, Spartacus: Vengeance, on Friday. And it introduced Liam McIntyre, who picked up the title role after star Andy Whitfield dropped out to battle lymphoma. He died from the disease in September. "We really wanted to make sure that we found the right guy to accept the mantle from Andy," series creator Steven DeKnight tells The Hollywood Reporter. "So, we looked high and low. We looked all over the world for the right guy and when Liam auditioned, we all really liked his acting, but he had lost like 40 pounds for a role he had just done. So, he looked on the verge of keeling over. So, that was kind of an iffy prospect." So while McIntyre had the acting chops, that wasn't enough for the role of Spartacus. He had to prove that he could take on the physicality of the character, as well." "We had to put him on a physical fitness retainer for three and a half months to go off and work out nonstop, constantly to put the weight back on and bulk up," DeKnight says. "So it was a very, very, very long grueling audition process for him. But he did a great job." An immense fan of the show already, McIntyre knew the gravity of his casting for the role and seemed driven by his sheer desire to please not only the production but fellow fans. And while the producers and cast members like to say that McIntyre brings his own portrayal of the hero to the role, that's really only part of the story. McIntyre admits that he tried his best to incorporate aspects of Whitfield's portrayal into his – which actually played into the Australian actor’s strengths. "The thing that appealed to me as an actor and just as a viewer of the show was the way Andy captured Spartacus' humanity, as a human being," McIntyre tells THR. "More basic than that, the general Roman accent is British, that proper British, in so many shows. With Spartacus being from Thrace, I liked that Andy kind of roughed it up with a kind of a little bit of an Australian accent in that British accent." "I thought it gave it a regional quality and even though I didn't want to copy his voice, I liked the choice he made for his accent," he continues. "The way he portrayed the accent, I kind of went for that. As far as a performance level, I didn't want to copy him but I wanted to get the same spirit of Spartacus."     1 February 2012 Spartacus: Vengeance Cast Discuss the Challenges of Filming, "It's Really Harrowing" From Gamerlive.tv: Liam McIntrye, Viva Bianca, and Lucy Lawless discuss the physical - and emotional challenges of filming. Note: This article contains material appropriate to the mature rating of the series and contains small spoilers from the season premiere. It's no surprise that Spartacus: Vengeance has done as well as it has. The STARZ show has drawn in an immense (and diverse) crowd. Packed with gore, nudity, sex, and a surprising dose of humanity, the show has done well for itself and has already been renewed for a third season. Writer Steven DeKnight continues to impress with his scripts, as testament to the first episode of season 2. The episode boasted plenty of gore (opening with an impressive sword fight) and holding true to it's "M for Mature" rating. DeKnight did his research, describing in a live web interview recently that he prides the show on being as realistic as possible for the setting. Viewers are taken on a whirlwind ride during every episode, but with all that violence and sex, one has to wonder how the cast feels filming some of these scenes. Liam McIntyre (Spartacus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), and Viva Bianca (Illithyia) shared their personal experiences on set – and their answers may surprise you. Spartacus goes through it’s fare share of blood and guts, but actress Lucy Lawless shared it was never nearly as scary filming them as seeing them on screen, as most of the final effects are done post-production. “It’s brilliant,” she commented about the editing. But just because the blood and intestines are fake doesn’t make filming violent scenes is any easier. The attack on the brothel (or "gentleman's money making facility", as McIntyre put it) mid-way through the season premiere proved to be an emotional challenge to shoot. "It was one of the most harrowing moments in my life," revealed Liam McIntyre - who was actually shooting the scene on one of his first days on set. He described it was difficult realizing that all that stood between himself and ‘death’ is a small piece of steel. "I remember thinking - Oh god, what have I got myself into?'" And it’s not just the blood and guts that sometimes gets to the cast. At innumerable points in the series, the cast members have found themselves naked on set and doing things they never expected. "I've done things again this season that I've never ever done before and never seen on television before," said Lawless. "It was heavy duty." She admitted that after a day of filming sex scenes, she wanted nothing more than to go home, have a "quiet little melt-down," and just sleep. Viva Bianca agreed. "They're far from a turn-on," she said. In fact, many were draining and emotionally exhaustive. The gravity of what some of the scenes entail (DeKnight certainly did his research) often takes its toll on the actors. “Sometimes I do need a hug,” said Lawless, “because it’s harrowing. It’s really harrowing”. The cast may have signed up for the roles, but according to McIntyre, they never get used to sex scenes. As Australians, Lawless revealed that "its very hard for us to be comfortable with nudity and sex scenes. I've tried...I want to be cooler about it, but I'm just not". What makes Spartacus a truly superb show is how vividly the characters are portrayed on screen. As actors, the cast delve into the heads of their individual characters to really understand whythey do what they do. But even they admit to being surprised sometimes. Viva Bianca described many of the scenes with Illithyia this season as excruciatingly brutal. After filming a particurally vicious scene in episode four, Bianca remembers approaching the director saying, "I can't believe Illithyia just did that." Spartacus speaks heavily about the exploitation of slaves and woman during the time period, and as such, Lawless and Bianca had to truly explore the upper class mentality of Roman women. "The truth for these Roman aristocratic people," said Bianca, "is that they didn't consider slaves, or people of that class, as people. For Lucy [Lawless] and I to get ourselves in that mentality is quite an extreme step. It can be quite horrific - and as an actor to carry the reality of what human is doing to another - it can weigh heavy on us". But despite the difficulties and challenges associated with filming the season, the cast gushed about how much they love filming a show so drastically unlike modern times. "It's like having a second life!" said Lawless, "and I just love it". In fact, Lawless admits the challenge is what makes acting on the show so spectacular, "I've had a really crazy ride as Lucretia this season and I'm really grateful". Bianca echoed her thoughts, saying that it's the real joy of filming comes from being able to enter an entirely new world and reality. "We love going into fantasy make-believe worlds and playing. I think that's a lot of what makes actors, actors".   Source     1 February 2012 Manu Bennett, Nick Tarabay, Craig Parker, and Daniel Feuerriegel Talk Spartacus: Vengeance From MovieWeb.com: Spartacus: Vengeance debuts on Starz Friday, January 27 at 10 PM ET, with Liam McIntyre starring as the new Spartacus in place of the late Andy Whitfield. Manu Bennett (Crixius), Nick Tarabay (Ashur), Craig Parker (Glaber), and Daniel Feuerriegel (Agron) all return to the series, and they recently held a conference call to discuss the new season. Here's what they had to say below. I'm just so happy to see your character, Ashur returning. And I wanted to know if you could give us a tease on will your paths be crossing Crixus? And how entrenched are you going to become in Lucy Lawless' world? And give us any details you can. Nick Tarabay: Well first of all thanks. Yes, it's good to be back. And I think it won't be a story if Ashur and Crixus somehow don't get together that way, especially having Crixus my ultimate enemy on the show. So yes, you do see a little bit of that. And it's going to be very, very intense actually, the way you see it. I mean everything I think in Vengeance, this season is going to be pretty intense and very heightened. So any time any actors or any - I mean any characters interact with one another it's going to be pretty big. And add to it the history that I have with Crixus, I think is going to make it even more interesting. And as far as Lucy, yes there's a lot of story, a lot of scenes, a lot of work with me and Lucy, that I was very, very happy to have because I didn't get a chance really to work with her in Season 1 and the prequel. But in this season we have a lot of work -- maybe a little too much; just kidding. And you know, Ashur this season is, you know, unlike every other season he's very - he's his own man in a way and he's under really severe circumstances that he's going all out. He goes all - I mean seriously, he has no boundaries, he fights really for what he thinks is right, and his goals get bigger and bigger. And the twists and the turns that he comes up with is something that surprised me as the actor every episode. I give a lot of credit for the writers. And obviously I give a lot of credit to the actors; made it a lot easier for me to, you know, to work harder and make it better. So yes, you're going to see a lot of Crixus, Lucy, more Ashur hopefully, so. I'm really curious to know how your character stays married to Viva, to Ilithyia and how that goes, how the marriage goes in this particular season. Craig Parker: When we first meet them they've been through some heavy guidance counseling and marriage counseling. Yes, you know with her that it's not going to be an easy marriage. And the fun thing this year is when we first meet them it's quite a different circumstance then when we left them so. I don't think that gives anything away, where Ilithyia has been told to behave and be a good wife. And you know Ilithyia; it's not going to last. So there's some fantastic relationship stuff there. And you know, to work with someone like Viva is so much fun because she is - she's created this absolute monster of a character. And always a joy to see how Ilithyia responds to the situation. Do you think that Glaber's true enemy is Ilithyia more so than Spartacus? Craig Parker: You know, absolutely. I think she is the one that destroys him the most, that hurts him the most. And this series though, I think you'll see him start to stand up for himself, become a bit of the man that he wants to be. And part of that is freeing himself from her control. It's quite good; truly she's not going to have an easy ride, I promise you. This season there's a really interesting dynamic being built up between Crixus and Spartacus, building on the previous season. And it seems like, if the first two episodes are any indication, they will spending a lot of time calling each other on their BS. I'm just wondering what with Crixus telling Spartacus that, "Since he's now a leader he has to be smarter," and with Spartacus having to tell Crixus to, "Keep his Gauls in line and not just tear off after Naevia," how does this play out over the course of the season? Manu Bennett: You know, there's no real answer to that; there's just a tug-of-war really. Spartacus, I believe in this season, has maybe more transitional - you know, has more of a transitional story than even Crixus. I mean Crixus is - it's like you enter the season with Crixus with a very definite goal, and that is to find Naevia. And Spartacus with an evolution, you know, he's said he wants to do something and all of a sudden everybody's looking at him going like, "Okay, you've made this big speech, you've forced us all to become fugitivus, and now what's the plan?" You know, and you know, as I think as far as Crixus is concerned, he just goes for all the - you know, the - goes through all the necessary actions of finding supplies and food and whatnot, but you know, Spartacus has this leadership role that he's taken on. And of course you know, Crixus is going to be the first one to call him on that and question him on that and remind him of the - you know, the agreement that he made with everybody as we left the ludus. You know, did you say BS; is that the term you used? Yes, you know, I don't think there's ever any BS that's going on between the two of them. I think the two of them are very honest men, speaking from the heart. And they just basically have a bit of a tug-of-war constantly because the two of them are both leaders and they don't necessarily sit comfortably in being the follower or the person who, you know, has to follow the other's objective. But you know, as in Season 1, I think it - that's what creates a lovely sort of brotherhood story. You know, the push and pull of a kind of a deep respect that's never sort of allowed to show itself on the surface. With Liam coming into the role, how has that changed the chemistry on set, if at all? And I think he did really well in the first two episodes and I was just wondering if I could get some feedback on that as well. Daniel Feuerriegel: Of course it's going to change chemistry because he's a completely different person. But you know, as actors you just adapt to Liam's personality, and you know, therefore then that makes you change certain things here and there, and that - I think that's just you know, what we do. As you said, Liam did amazing the first two episodes and he just keeps getting better and better. And I think he did an absolutely fantastic job. And so of course it was different, but I felt as though, you know, no better/no worse. He was just Liam, he was just doing what he does and we all did what we did. And as you saw in the first two episodes this is, you know, how it was turning out. And so I guess if you enjoyed it, a lot of other people will enjoy it. And I'm certainly sure that everybody enjoyed working with him. I mean I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm sure they'll say the same thing. Guys? Manu Bennett: He's never stopped - he has never stopped discussing with all of us, his journey. And I think there's something very Spartacus about that. You know, there's a very truthful pure quality to the man himself and that's what they needed to find. Andy gave such an extraordinarily honest performance, the people were just so moved by that that, you know, it was almost an impossibility to find somebody to replace Andy. What they've found in Liam is somebody with an absolute truth. It's a different truth, but it's still the truth, as a person. And it's wonderful to work with him because every day he brings an open book that we all get to participate with. You know, there were other people that came and read, and you know, the acting world's an egotistical world and we could have gotten somebody who just got into the chariot and rode it as some kind of, you know, the next big thing. But Liam is a very humble person and has gifted us all with his openness. And that reads itself into the role. Craig Parker: I think very first episode, which is a strange new episode, you know, there's a new Spartacus, there's a new world that we're in, it's an odd episode, but by the end of it you fully embrace Liam as a different, but the new Spartacus and you - you're ready to go on the journey with him, which is quite wonderful. And as Manu says, he doesn't in any way try to be Andy or to replicate that performance, he takes it as a whole new sort of slate and paints a very different Spartacus but a equally interesting and sort of diverse, and you know, a wonderful, wonderful job. Nick Tarabay: I have to actually agree with all three of the guys. And one thing I've actually really liked about Liam was his heart. I mean he has such a good heart. And like Manu said, "He's very humble." And like when you talk to him outside of acting, when we just sit down and talk between scenes or at lunchtime or whatever, he's such a good person, and very dedicated to the work, that you see Spartacus in him, which made it very easy for all of us to see him as the new Spartacus. Liam is surrounded by really, really good actors and really, really good people that I think it made it easier for him too to get more into the character. So he's doing a great job. Daniel Feuerriegel: Yes, and he also respected where it all came from, and where he came from as well. He knew what he was up against and continually just, as Manu said, "Modest and humble," in regards to you know, what Andy did in the first season. And that's another magnificent part of Liam's personality, which shines through as well. Click here for full article     1 February 2012 Katrina Law Talks Slave Girl Mira in Spartacus Vengeance From MovieWeb.com: On the heels of the bloody escape from the House of Batiatus that concluded Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the gladiator rebellion continues and begins to strike fear into the heart of the Roman Republic in Spartacus: Vengeance, beginning with Fugitivus on January 27th. Gaius Claudius Glaber and his Roman troops are sent to Capua to crush the growing band of freed slaves that Spartacus leads before it can inflict further damage. Spartacus is presented the choice of satisfying his personal need for vengeance against the man that condemned his wife to slavery and eventual death or making the larger sacrifices necessary to keep his budding army from breaking apart. Containing all of the blood-soaked action, exotic sexuality, and villainy and heroism that has come to distinguish the series, the tale of Spartacus resumes in epic fashion. We recently caught up with Katrina Law, who plays slave girl Mira on the show, to chat about this upcoming season. Mira is a freed slave who played a vital part in helping Spartacus plot and execute the escape from Batiatus' ludus and thus helped to trigger the uprising that now grows in strength. Mira is profoundly dedicated to Spartacus and the larger cause that inflames them both, proving herself a fierce champion for freedom and justice for those they fight alongside and those yet to be liberated. She is deeply devoted to the cause, and even more so to Spartacus himself. Our conversation is below. There's been a bit of a hiatus between Season 1 and Season 2. How excited are you for this show to return, finally? Katrina Law: I am stoked, and I feel incredibly blessed. I wouldn't say it's been traumatizing in this last year and a half. But there have been some ups and downs. At the end of the day, it's moving on. I'm excited to get the show back. I am excited for people to see it. It seems a lapse in time has only made fans hungrier for the show. They certainly haven't forgotten that it's still out there. That it's coming back... Katrina Law: We have the most crazy, awesome, rabid fans. They are so dedicated to the show. They are invested in it. That's what you want. Of course you want to be on a show, and have people go crazy for it. I'm honored. I feel so lucky to be a part of it. To be a part of this entire Spartacus movement...To say the least. To have this kind of fan reaction? It will be interesting, with the new castings, and everything that has happened in-between. It will be interesting to see how those fans react. But, from what I have seen so far, people are going to be pleasantly surprised, and happy about what they will see. Andy gave his blessing before he passed away to continue on with the show. That must have meant a lot to both the cast and crew... Katrina Law: It did mean a lot. That is something that goes beyond the fan recognition. I don't think there is a single person on this show that would have been able to continue without his blessing. Andy Whitfield was the reason. He is the reason why we have a season two. Because of the amazing work he did in season one. I think we would have all walked away from it without looking back. With the fans, it's been great. They have been so supportive. Of course, there are always a few people who don't understand the situation. They don't understand what is going on. People were saying, "Why don't you just wait?" Its like, he didn't pull a hamstring. He is fighting for his life right now. This is different. Unfortunatly, at the end of the day, he didn't win that battle. The cast and the crew, and the producers have stayed strong throughout this, and the fans always remain supportive. I want to say, "Thank you!" To the fans for coming back to season 2. When you have more than one new actor replacing an established character on a hit show, does that open it up for more revisions? Were you able to do anything new with your character that might be a little bit different this season? Or is Mira the same slave girl we've come to know and love? Katrina Law: Um...Well, you definitely have to hold true to what you did in season one, and that goes for all of the characters. I think anyone that had interaction with Spartacus, which I think is pretty much everyone...The show is called Spartacus...You have to approach Liam McIntyre differently, because he has walked into an almost impossible situation. And he has done the best that any man could do. He has done a beautiful job. He has remained humble and gracious. He is just a sweetheart in real life. He felt he had a lot to honor, yet he brought his own flavor to the role. Now, when you are interacting with Spartacus, you have to take into account that this is a different dynamic. You have to act against what is present in front of you. And not what is in the past. I don't know, necessarily, if there is a newfound freedom to do something different with the role. It's about acting against what is in front of you. Cynthia Addai-Robinson is beautiful. She is such a great actress, and she has done such a wonderful job of honoring what came before with the character of Naevia. She definitely brought her own flavor and twist. I know you will be happy when you see what happens between Crixus and Naevia. Click here for full interview     1 February 2012 Eat Like A Star: Spartacus' Ellen Hollman Want to look like a star? Have what they're having! Every week, we'll tell you what healthy meals help our favorite stars power through their day. This week, we talked to actress Ellen Hollman, who's currently starring in STARZ channel's newest show, Spartacus: Vengeance. Hollman, who has appeared on hits like Weeds, Medium and Criminal Minds, is the newest addition to the Spartacus: Vengeance series on STARZ. The historical drama is the sequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and follows the gladiator rebellion into battle with the Roman Republic. The small costumes and intense fight scenes call for Hollman to be in peak form for her role as Saxa, an alluring and passionate female warrior. Off screen, the actress is a warrior for a different cause. As CEO of Visual Impact Now, Hollman raises funds to provide free eye exams and glasses to children and families who are unable to otherwise afford it. Check out Hollman's breakfast below to see what fuels the actress for her on-screen battles and off-screen fundraising. "I prefer jump starting the day with a Luna bar doused in almond butter," says Hollman. "Not only are they loaded with essential nutrients for women, but Luna is a major supporter of the Breast Cancer Fund and Healthy Child Healthy World. I'll pair that with a cup of coffee--it's like jet fuel! That's my perfect breakfast." Looking to make almond butter part of your healthy breakfast routine like Hollman? Test run SELF's almond butter and banana smoothie recipe--it's got 14 grams of protein to fuel you all morning long. Source     1 February 2012 Meet Ellen Hollman, who cracks us up while introducing us to her character, Saxa Ellen Hollman is the latest addition to the cast of "Spartacus: Vengeance," which has it's season premiere on Friday, January 27th. She'll appear a few episodes in as Saxa, a pretty touch chick. We were lucky enough to get a preview of her character, her feelings on nudity and who Saxa is going to hook up with. Also, she is hysterical! "Saxa is the first female German warrior to join the ranks of Spartacus. She's fierce, fun, intelligent and a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. In other words, she will kick your *ss and have a laugh about it later." She has her eye one one of the hot guys in the show ... at least Saxa does. "She has a keen eye for Gannicus (Dustin Clare)," she says "And not one to take 'no' lightly." Well, where there is love or lust, there is certainly sex, especially on this show. We asked her if the nudity made her hesitate at all. She replies, "Nudity? There's nudity on this show? I'd better start doing some sit-ups." Okay, we love this girl already! Hollman said she loves working with the cast. "They are, and continue to be like family. I'm beyond fortunate to have such genuine, dedicated and supportive friends by my side on screen. It is extremely helpful when you're thousands of miles from home." When asked if she'd been a fan of the show, she answered, "Yes! Hell, yes!" We asked her how intense this season will be for her. "Your jaw will be on the floor," she says. About the show's popularity, Hollman explains, "It crosses every line normally saved for film. It sets new boundaries for television as we know it from performance, to fight, to choreography and aesthetics with beyond shocking story lines." Hollman says there is no shortage of funny moments on the set. "Once I became overly confident with my fight choreography," she says. "I decided to 'embellish' a few moments in between (we did, after all, spend a good 8-10 hours shooting each fight sequence and idle time in Saxa's hands is quite dangerous). Mira (Katrina Law) and I had a fight together and after we defeated the competition, I grabbed her face and laid a big ole kiss on her. The reaction from everyone was beyond priceless! Needless to say it made the final cut. Ha!" Finally, we asked this funny lady if there were any juicy tidbits she could tease for us. She says, "Forget the tease, I'll give away an entire plot line with one of Saxa's lines: 'Warum hast du die römische Hure nur freigegeben, um im Gegenzug nichtserhalten?' That sh*t is crazy right?" Okay, Ellen Hollman. You rock! We can't wait to see Saxa if this interview is any indication! (In case you're wondering, it translates to something like, "Why have you released the Roman whore only to get nothing in return?") Source     1 February 2012 Katrina Law Talks 'Spartacus Vengeance', Liam McIntyre & Her Loincloth Posse 'Spartacus: Vengeance' fan favorite Katrina Law (Mira) took some time to discuss how her role on the hit show has grown, the addition of Liam McIntyre and dealing with all those loincloths around her. She also offers some tips for everyone trying to keep their New Year's resolution of getting fit. Last season Katrina Law's main role was looking beautiful and falling in love with Spartacus, but everything's changed for the new season where she gets to fight, continue with Spartacus while still looking lovely. Unbeknownst to her, her early years were setting her up to be cast in the world of Spartacus as she began weightlifting on the Varsity team high school, going on to win the title of Miss New Jersey Teen USA and then being cast in a three episode arc as the Mord'Sith "Garen" in Legend of the Seeker before landing the plum position of Mira on 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'. She came on halfway through the season, but the fans response to her character was quite huge so not she's back badder, better and more visible for the audience. The premiere of 'Spartacus: Vengeance' hit a ratings high for the Starz show, only solidifying why it's already been picked up for another season and more story arcs for Spartacus and Mira. Law discusses some basics, but also fills us in on some of the odd requests fans have asked of her. Best Movies Ever: Your website is Miss Katrina Law which has a nice diva sound, so do we have to address you as Miss Katrina? Katrina Law: You only have to call me "Miss Katrina" when you have been bad. BME: Landing the role of Mira has turned you into a fan favorite. When you first came on the show, were you anticipating the role to grow as big as it has and were the producers assuming you'd be around for the second season? KL: When I signed on for Spartacus I had a feeling that the show was going to be a success, but I honestly didn't count on Mira turning out to be such a big part of the show as she will be in Season 2; not to say I didn't have high hopes. I’m not sure what the writers and producers had in mind for Mira at the get-go, but I thank my lucky stars that she managed to survive the rebellion and that she eventually gets to fight. BME: Were you left to your own devices on fleshing out Mira's backstory? KL: To this day Mira's backstory is a mystery to me. Like a dutiful acting student, I created a backstory for every episode. But it always seemed that with the next episode, I would have to toss it all out the window and create a brand new one for her. The only hint that I got from the writers was half way through season 2, when they told me that she was born a slave. Not knowing my backstory did keep the season interesting, though. And it was an interesting challenge trying to justify whatever it was that Mira was going to do next. Click here for full article BME: When you were weightlifting in high school did it ever once cross your mind that you'd wind up being surrounded by men in loincloths on a hit show? KL: Um, no! But life is full of pleasant surprises.     1 February 2012 Sky Guide interviews Lucy Lawless The king of the arena returns to challenge the might of the Roman army in the epic second series, Spartacus – Vengeance. A brand new face in the form of Liam McIntyre replaces Andy Whitfield, who sadly lost his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year, but has Liam got the chops to prove himself as the legendary hero who raged against Rome? Sky Guide meets Liam and co-star Lucy Lawless, to find out more. 'Obviously, Andy Whitfield left an indelible mark on all of us in the Spartacus family,' says Lucy. 'He was a gentle man who never said a bad word about anyone, and a brilliant actor. Andy's presence made men want to be him and women want to marry him. How lucky we were to have him grace all our lives.' McIntyre, who starred in HBO's The Pacific and Neighbours, is up for the challenge. 'I have to live up to Andy's legacy. I was a fan of the show beforehand and if he hadn’t done such a great job, none of us would be here.' Legacy is the right word. First series Spartacus – Blood And Sand quickly gained a cult following, enticing audiences with its action, political machinations and saucy sex scenes in debauched Rome. In the thrilling finale we watched as Spartacus, a Thracian slave thrown into the life of a gladiator, rose up against owners Batiatus [John Hannah] and Lucretia [Lucy Lawless]. Now Batiatus is dead, and Spartacus has escaped with his fellow slaves. What next? According to Liam, 'Spartacus has to face the might of the republic.' Lucy Lawless tells us more… Can you describe the show? At first glance, it is full of sex and violence. So if that's a turn off to you, please do not tune into the show. If you can handle it, it's a rollicking good ride. People would often question if it is soft porn, and I’d say no it's hardcore drama. It's very intelligently written and we are very proud of it. Blood And Sand concluded with you wounded, Batiatus dead, and the gladiators on the run… What happens next? Well I live! Spartacus has busted out with his rotten mates. My husband [Robert G.Tapert] produces it. We find it best if I don’t know anything too far in advance, otherwise you spend all your time in angst over something that may or may not happen. Initially I was meant to die too and then they figured out they get press out of me, so they resurrected my character, which I'm thrilled about [laughs]. Do you think there will be just as much sex this time around? Probably! But when you think, 'sweet! I'm going to be naked 24/7' – nobody is really naked. They've got these hand-knotted little merkins, everybody has got one. So you feel like you are wearing underwear, and I've never actually been naked myself. The suggestion on the sets are far greater than what's being filmed. It's the way you frame things. If you see my ankles over somebody else's you are going to make assumptions about what's going on between you. It's quite clever and funny. How would you describe Lucretia? The ultimate survivor! Loved her husband, did anything for him even to a point of having sex with another man to produce an heir. Do you think that she's a bit like Lady Macbeth? That was the immediate attraction for me to play her. I didn't want her to be melodramatic and two dimensional, so I tried to make her somebody where you can kind of see her point. She does terrible things but I'm totally interested in them, rather than just writing her like she’s Joan Collins. How do you feel about the costumes, especially the bright red hair? I love all that, it really kicks you into a whole other dimension. It helps me with the character. I really never think about the character until the costume is on, then something just pops out of me. Is it hard to take a back seat having been the main character of a TV series for so long on Xena: Warrior Princess, or do you just love your role? Yeah, I do, I love the new character and I wouldn't trade it. You have to be humble, you have to take your place and I think that is part of life too. I feel it's all part of it, although when you see Judi Dench doing astonishing work, you think, 'hey, the best could be yet to come!' Why do you think people love the Roman era? It's purely voyeuristic, because you can see people behaving badly and doing all the things that we are highly curious about, even if we don't want to do it ourselves. For example, a husband and wife can be having a chat and a slave goes to him and the conversation continues without missing a beat. It means nothing to them that the slave is sexually servicing the husband. It blows the audience's mind, because they've never seen that before, and then you quickly realise that you aren't in Kansas, you're not in London… So did this all really happen? Evidently we are bending history a bit because we don't know a lot about these characters, but they are real names quite often. The customs and the costumes are all well researched and the pretty weird stuff you see wouldn’t happen unless we knew it was well documented. We have a couple of historians who are on tap all the time. What do you miss about home when you are away? I don't have the missing gene, the gene to miss things, I'm like a goldfish. After five minutes wherever I am, it's like my new favourite place. But I miss my children and my husband of course! Sometimes you just need a cuddle and sometimes you go through Frankfurt airport and they pat you down and you say, 'this is better than sex!' Instead of intimacy I would take a rub down at the airport! Sometimes I stash paper clips down my pockets just to trick them! You are still in incredible shape. How do you do that? I am working on it. I'm in my forties now. I do weight training, which funnily enough is better at burning fat, and I cut sugar out for a while, but then I'm back on it again. Weight training is my little secret. It's really good for you. In New Zealand they're not into the craziness of dieting and exercise. If I can be better at 43 than when I was at 23 that’s awesome! By the time I am 50, forget it I'm not doing anything, I'm going to turn into one of those French women who sit on the beach with their bosom sagging, eating a croissant, having a fag and loving it! Source     1 February 2012 Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Lucy Lawless She became an icon on the campy but highly successful television series "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995-2001). At 43, Lucy Lawless remains fit for battle, or in the case of her current series, "Spartacus: Vengeance," nudity. Among the New Zealander's other assets is her voice. She once considered opera as a career path. Although Ms. Lawless is heterosexual, married twice with three children, Xena's sexuality was always suspect. In the last episode, the Warrior Princess basically came out of the closet, which garnered Ms. Lawless a loyal lesbian following. Currently, she is playing Lucretia, a Roman woman who has lost everything and stops at nothing to regain her power and position. The second season of "Spartacus: Vengeance" airs on the premium channel Starz 10 p.m. Fridays. Nudity, violence and a lot more make it appropriate for mature audiences only. Were you into science fiction or mythology as child? No -- zero. We did lots of acting, my friend Michelle and I. We were always adapting fairy tales and things and putting them on for the old folks. My mother ran the senior citizens brigade or whatever it was called. So we would do that sort of thing all the time as play. I don't know how this happened to me. I also read you were interested in opera at one point but decided against it because you didn't like the lifestyle. Well, I thought I'd have to be a big fatty. No, no, really, the truth is that's not my gift to sing that way. So even though I love singing to this day, not opera but other things, acting just comes first. How comfortable are you doing the semi-nude and nude scenes? Not at all, zero comfortable. Oh, God, it makes me sick. It doesn't get easier? No, it doesn't. You'd think it would, but it doesn't. But you know what? You believe in the role, and you just soldier on through and be as professional as you can because the scenes are not about sex. I don't care what anyone says, it's not porn. There's a transaction of power going on. Somebody's getting screwed, and it's not about sex [laughing]. So with that said, there has to be pressure to stay in shape. Yes, I try but [laughing] that's a mystery to me, that whole discipline thing. I do work out with a trainer, but I don't know. You can go 10 pounds up and maybe 3 pounds down but tend to stay in a certain zone. Is your character on "Spartacus" more challenging to play than Xena was? Yeah, because Xena had a moral compass that we relate to. Lucretia doesn't. I think if you live in a society where subterfuge is the order of the day, then there is no morality. Everybody is stabbing one another in the back. It's stab or be stabbed, and she's survived a long time. She's got her work cut out for her this season because things get really nasty. She is going to have to be extremely vigilant and clever to survive. Does it enhance your acting if you know the arc the character will be taking a few episodes ahead? I think it's really important to know. You don't telegraph that to the audience, but I think it's very important to know. I remember on Xena we would set up for something being a fact and true and all your acting would sort of cleave to that rule, and three episodes later you are doing something completely the opposite [laughing]. It kind of makes a liar of you. For instance, in the last episode when they almost explicitly came out and said that Xena was gay, I was cross with them. All these years, they could have told me that ahead of time that they were going to do that. I wouldn't have had to sort of obfuscate. In this case [Spartacus], it was extremely important. By the end of this season when you see the final episode, I guarantee you're going to say, "Oh my God, now I have to go back and watch it again from the beginning." It's like a feature film. Do you find yourself more likely to underact or overact when you are doing these period pieces with costumes? [Laughing] I think it's every actor's burden to try not to overact, try not to act at all. Yes, it's always harder. I always just want to do shtick. You know, I started out in comedy, and I just want to make everything a joke. I had to stomp hard on myself, especially in the first season, not to do that. 'Cause you just wanted to go back into sort of Xena mode, you know, make it all ridiculous. But that's not the vibe of this show at all. You've got to play it real straight. With the sex scenes, do you find it easier to do them with a man or a woman, or does it matter? I find it easier to do with a man. To me a man feels like I expect they are going to feel [laughing] and a woman doesn't [laughing]. Even fat dudes feel differently to me than a woman [laughing]. Just when you touch the flesh, it's different. I guess that means I'm straight. You have fans in both camps. I know. I love them. But I know all I need to know [laughing]. What about the choreography? Is it as complex as a fight scene? Oh, it's much more complex. I was extremely blessed to work with the people that I worked with when I did the sex scenes. The hardest sex scene was the one with John and Jamie Murray. It was like the first day I'd met her or nearly. There was this sort of ménage a troi going on, and they [the characters] are all spaced out on drugs. So as you do when you are spaced out on drugs, of course, you have a threesome [laughing], I guess. I was so blessed to be surrounded by people I've known for 15 years. Having to do these scenes in front of them just grosses me out, but to do it with Jamie and John was just fantastic. They are real theater performers, and they had that workman-like attitude for preparation. You forget it all, and you just achieve and fulfill the scene as fully and quickly as you can. You don't waste any time being shy or petulant or whatever. Just be professional. I think we took a few slugs of booze that day. What about your sons. Do you think about them seeing this someday? Oh, I do. I think about them a lot. One of them is a very sensitive person, and he knows academically that I have to do those scenes. It's part of a role. But he does not want to see it. He does not want to see any part of it. The other one is like his dad. He's just a movie maker. Even though he's younger than the other boy, he's much more able to cope with everything to do with acting. When he gets old enough to see it, I will be less worried about him. My daughter works on the show. I think at 23 years old it still grosses her out. When those scenes are on, she turns her back or she's not on the set. She doesn't punish me at all for it. She's very professional.   Source     1 February 2012 A.V. Club interview Lucy Lawless Some consider the STARZ hit Spartacus a glorified skin-and-sin show. Others might dismiss it as a low-budget swords-and-scandal saga. But beneath the show's veneer is a beating heart that transcends genre and speaks to issues of power, loyalty, corruption, and people's innermost desires. Lucy Lawless, who plays Lucretia on the show, has been a fantasy icon since her star-making role on the syndicated series Xena: Warrior Princess. From there, she turned up as a Cylon in the remake of Battlestar: Galactica, and in roles on Flight Of The Conchords, No Ordinary Family, Burn Notice, and Veronica Mars. At this winter's Television Critics' Association press tour, she sat down with The A.V. Club to discuss her role as Lucretia in the Spartacus series, her contempt for the Internet, and exactly who's getting vengeance in Spartacus: Vengeance, which premiered this past Friday on STARZ. The A.V. Club: The title of the season is Spartacus: Vengeance. But "vengeance" could be applied to almost any other character. Does that word help describe how Lucretia survived the end of the first season, Spartacus: Blood And Sand? Lucy Lawless: There certainly is a trace of vengeance through what Lucretia does. But I don't think that's her driving force, actually. AVC: What would her driving force be? LL: Well, at first, it's what it has always been, which is survival. She needs a friend, quickly. And as soon as she recovers her marbles, she’s going to have to worm her way into someone's affections, because she has no support. And that was tantamount to death in ancient Rome. Click here for full interview     Read More Archives