"An Appropriate Level Of Pain"

"Spartacus" Star Andy Whitfield Talks About Getting Into Gladiator Shape

By Stacey Harrison

After testing the waters of original programming with Head Case, Crash and Party Down, Starz makes its biggest splash yet with an extreme action epic that turns an ancient tale into a bacchanal of guts, glory and a generous helping of flesh.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Fridays beginning Jan. 22) -- in addition to taking full advantage of the freedom that comes with airing on a premium channel -- marries the graphic-novel visuals of 300 to the dramatics of Gladiator, and in the process promises to make a star out of Aussie newcomer Andy Whitfield.

Writer/executive producer Steven S. DeKnight says Whitfield fit the bill both as a new face and as an example of rugged masculinity.

"When Andy came in, he looked like everything I imagined [Spartacus] should look like," DeKnight says. "I remember the first day on the set, when he showed up with the hair and the Thracian uniform, it was like, 'My God, this guy is just perfect.' His acting is fantastic, and there's a warmth to him that really comes out, but there's also a hardness that he can play. ... We needed a man to play this part."

Whitfield says he hasn't had much time to ponder his sudden rise from TV roles Down Under to the lead in a major Hollywood series. Much like his character, he's just been trying to survive. He took some time to talk with us about his sudden rise in profile, as well as the mental adjustment that needed to accompany learning how to fight like a gladiator.

Going in to audition for this, did you know they were looking for an unknown?

I didn't specifically, but I understand the benefits of finding new people for them. I think a lot of actors are not stigmatized but if they're successful with another character, that's attached to them. To have something that's a historically based show, to be able to have someone that isn't attached to anything else to dilute that, I understand that. But I didn't know that's what they set out to do.

What did you know about the Spartacus character before you came to this project?

When you do the research, so many different versions of history, it seems that he's one of those characters that we never found. He died somewhere in battle, and we're assuming it was in a big battle with Crassus, the richest Roman, who bought his own army so that he could become the next Caesar. He's got that kind of mystery about him. I guess I know as much as everybody else, the things that he did and the things that he fought for, that he actually took on the Romans and liberated the slaves and wouldn't stand for that worthless life philosophy.

It's one of those cases where any version you want to tell is as accurate as another. What about the Stanley Kubrick film version?

I'd seen it before, and obviously I watched it before filming this. I'd say this is pretty close to that in the essence of that character. [He's] real defiant, strong, won't settle for less and is willing to make a stand for a fantastic cause, which at that time could get you killed. It's a pretty good basis for what we're doing, but we're obviously taking it to a much more raw level.

Some actors say they make a point to stay away from any previous versions of characters or projects. Why did you seek it out?

I never watched anything in terms of to see how to play a part. I was just getting lost in the story, and seeing what the facts were as much as Stanley Kubrick, the editing, and the people working on the history. They'd kind of done a lot of the work. The themes, the facts, the shape of his life and the story of his life are always useful, but I can't do it the same way as another actor anyway, I can only do it the way it comes up for me.

How important is the wife character, Sura?

You could do it. You could have a story without that, but I think anything you've really enjoyed watching over the years generally has a heart to it. There's something that people can identify with and they see themselves in that relationship. I fought quite hard to keep that as prominent in the series as it has been. It'd be easy to make a violent TV show, but that's only going to titillate for so long and people are going to want more. You've got to invest in these characters and believe they're real and believe that what they believe is worth getting involved in. So yeah, I couldn't imagine it without that central theme.

How does that relationship figure into the series once we get to the slave revolution?

I think what Spartacus saw in his wife was the potential of this is what life should be. How happy he is right now, with her, and their future and what they talk about and what they experience together, that's how it should be. And then to have that taken away and to live as a slave and have all that stuff slip away, every time he thinks of his wife, he remembers what he doesn't have, and he remembers what everyone else around him, all those other slaves, don't have, and will never have -- they'll never see their children run free, all that sort of stuff. So she's sort of the thing, the one image that he can quickly click onto and remember why he's doing it all, and what is worth fighting for. That's how she relates to the story. It's kind of like muscle memory, or how some people have smells that take them back to a certain time -- it's very powerful and evocative, remembrances of how you felt in a previous moment. That's what she is.

What's your relationship like then with Erin Cummings, who plays Sura?

It's brilliant. I met Erin when she was brought in to workshop one of the scenes. We pretty much hit it off straight away. I think she got me the job, because she was all over the scene when I got in that room that I was pretty much just swept along in it, and that's exactly what you want from your other actor. ... Every actor has a different process, but she'll definitely sit there and get into the story and talk about it and talk about the minutiae. So she's brilliant. I couldn't ask for a more supportive person to get me through the scene.

Next: All right. Let's talk about that gladiator training. How bad was it?

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