Spartacus: Vengeance” star Liam McIntyre, and creator/producer Steven DeKnight, hit the red carpet on Thursday evening in Los Angeles, as they joined Starz to help celebrate the legendary 1960 “Spartacus” star Kirk Douglas and the Thracian legend.
Liam said he was grateful to Kirk for the iconic character the 95-year-old created on screen, one made even more epic by McCarthy-era blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (who first wrote the project under a pen name).
“The idea of what Spartacus is, was created… it’s a few lines in some old, old texts from Greeks and Romans, and hundreds of years later… [Kirk] made that character and… the values he held, and him with his people just created that legend,” Liam said.
Liam poured through Kirk’s new book, “I Am Spartacus! Making a Film, Breaking the Blacklist,” and the Australian actor said at the Starz event that learning about the boundaries Kirk had to climb over to make the project, made an impact.
“I’ve been lucky enough to read the book — which is incredible — and the idea of… what was going on at that time and how oppressive and horrible it was, and how not unlike some of the oppression — in a different way — that Spartacus himself would have gone through? It’s incredible to really change the world in some way and I don’t think he intended to, based on what I read. It’s like, he didn’t even mean to, at the start. It’s just part of his genius, I guess. He just made it happen.”
Speaking to Access Hollywood at the event, Kirk said making the movie and going against the Hollywood, McCarthy-era blacklist was something he was scared to do – especially as he was a father, with four children to feed.
“There was much fear,” Kirk told Access. “People said I was crazy, I would never work again, but I was young enough [to ignore them]. If I were much older, I might not have done it, but I [was] young enough to take a chance.”
Kirk was one of Hollywood’s hottest hunks when he made “Spartacus,” and when asked about his incredible physique in the film, he quipped to Access, “What’s [the] matter with this?
“I’m only 95,” he added.
While actors these days tend to eat plenty of protein, combined with intense gym and cardio sessions to get ripped for television and film, Kirk said his “Spartacus” physique was the result of sporting activity.
“I used to be a wrestler in college,” he told Access. “As a matter of fact, I was undefeated. So watch out!”
