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.
