- 4 minutes ago
In the very first Heat Vision Live event, 'Spartacus: House of Ashur' creator Steven S. DeKnight and star Nick E. Tarabay come together for a lively Q&A conversation moderated by THR senior film writer and creator of the Heat Vision blog Borys Kit.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Welcome everybody, welcome you guys. Before we begin talking about what we've just seen,
00:10I kind of want to go back to like 15 years ago when Spartacus first began and when you guys
00:18think back at that initial first run of shows, what do you think of? What do you remember most
00:25from the shows when it first began? Oh, it was insane. It was one big experiment. We didn't know
00:34if it was going to work. We were just throwing everything at it. And one of the main things I
00:41remember is Andy Whitfield just came out of nowhere and just owned that role. And we also hated him
00:48because he's a really good looking guy. Very good. And he was very good at his job. So there was a
00:52constant hate right off the bat. So there's that, you know. So that's what I remember.
00:58I remember Manu, Krixis, the guy who played Krixis. Manu Bennett. Manu Bennett. I remember at that
01:03time I was living with Manu. I lived with him for one week only. Why is that, Nick? I wonder. I wonder
01:08why. And I remember Manu coming back and he was sitting with me and we were, he just came back
01:13from rehearsal and he was just like, mate, did you notice that Andy is really good looking?
01:20And I'm living with this guy, you know. So I'm like, yes. And? So that was the end. That's how I,
01:28that's what I think of the first season.
01:30It was a very hot show. I mean, it gained a very strong following. So now we're 15 years later.
01:38I guess the big question is, why bring the show back?
01:42I think it was off the air for too long.
01:44That's right. That's right. Why not? Why not bring it back?
01:48Why not bring it back? You know, look, we looked at the television landscape and there
01:52was still nothing like it on TV. So it just, it just felt like the right time to bring
01:58it back.
01:59But you also bring it back in a, in, in a unique way because Spartacus is dead. And, and when
02:06you were thinking about that, like to bring it back, like how did you come up with like
02:12even why break to bring this guy? Cause he's dead. So how, how, that seems to be an issue
02:17for a lot of people. This guy is dead. You know how many times I've seen it? Like, oh,
02:21wait, wait, how was Asher back? I'm like, yes, we're doing a what if, but how is he back?
02:26Okay. We're doing a what if, but how is he back though? I'm like, I don't know. He's not back.
02:30Are you happy? Let's move on.
02:32Right. But I mean, it's, you could have brought any other character back, but you brought this guy
02:36back. Yeah. Well, I loved writing for Nick in the original show and the character is so interesting
02:45to me because, you know, Asher is a guy, if you watch Gods of the Arena, the prequel, he comes in
02:54enthusiastic. He, he wants to be part of the brotherhood and then they just shit on him
02:59constantly. And it turned him bitter and mean. And I love the idea of what if he had a second
03:06chance? Would he be a better person? Would his heart open up? Would he find love? And that was
03:14just such a fertile ground to explore. And I also love the idea of uncoupling from history. So you
03:20don't know what's going to happen next. Yeah. You use, you use the word uncouple several times in the,
03:25in the, in the first two episodes, which is a great way to, to, to, to get your mind in there.
03:31Yeah. And one of the first things that Asher does is he introduces the gladiatrix, the female
03:36gladiator, which we always wanted to do in the original show, but historically it happened about
03:4280 years later. So we wanted to stick closer to history, but this time around, uh, that's the first
03:48historical domino that he knocks over. He changes that by being desperate and, uh, needing a gimmick.
03:55So you're saying that the first female gladiatrix was 80 years after the Spartacus era? Yes. Yes.
04:02So how much, how much research or historically bound are you in this new season? Cause you can do,
04:10because it's an alternate history, you can play whatever. Yeah. Well, we start out historically
04:16accurate with what's going on. Uh, particularly with Crassus and Pompey, uh, having their armies
04:24outside the gates of Rome that actually happened. There was a threat of civil war. So all of that
04:30backdrop is actually historically accurate. And then dropping Asher into it, you'll see as the season
04:37progresses, how he changes everything. That's fantastic. Uh, Nick, what was it like when, when he,
04:44when Steven first called you up and said, I'm, I'm bringing Asher back or, or how to tell me,
04:50tell me how that went? I mean, I feel I've said this story so many times, but I'm happy to say it
04:55again. Uh, I was in France when that happened and it was August 11, 2022. I was, I was in France and,
05:02and the phone, I mean, he sent me a text and he was saying, he was like, Nick, I have a juicy nugget.
05:07I want to share with you, you know? And, and then I was like, can you, are you, can you talk? And I
05:12was like, yeah, sure. And then when I answered the phone, I don't know what it was. It was something
05:17in the air or some, that connection or some sort, because I felt, I'm like, I wonder if he wants to
05:22talk about the house of Asher. And mind you, that's 13 years later. So I don't know what was going on.
05:27I picked up the phone and he was like, Nick, what are you doing for the next five to six years?
05:31Which is, you know, with Steven, I'm like, yeah, I am here. And then he said, you know, I'm thinking
05:37of reviving the house of Asher. I'm thinking of doing, you know, Spartacus bringing Spartacus back
05:41and featuring you. So I was, it was a no brainer. It's, this is one of these unique shows that
05:47absolutely, yes, you know, as actors, it's not often that we get, you know, roles that we can sink
05:53our teeth into. So to get that opportunity again, to play, to bring the character back and add more
05:59layers to it. It's just absolutely a dream come true. And, and, and especially in the
06:04new season, you'll see new layers for, for Asher, which I absolutely love. And I was very
06:09happy to bring to life. So the short answer is hell yes. I was very excited to come back
06:15to this job and I will continue to do so.
06:20Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you.
06:23In the original series, just to stay on track on that, you were obviously a bad guy.
06:28That's not true.
06:31He was deeply misunderstood.
06:33Absolutely. That's what I always say, but, but you can think whatever you want. I don't
06:37think he was a bad guy.
06:39But here you're, you're acting, you're, you know, you're being asked or the audience is
06:44being asked to completely root for you. And as an actor, actor, does that change how you
06:51approach a character going from that? That's a big shift.
06:56No, no, I don't, I don't, I do not think about these things. That's, that's, that's not,
07:00that's not my job to do this. My job is to tell a story. And I will always, I will always
07:04honor this. My job, Stephen has written something absolutely brilliant. And my job as an actor
07:09is to tell a story. And I always say this, once the actor makes a story about himself or
07:13herself, you already failed. So how the people perceive Asher, that's not my business. I don't,
07:20I don't, I don't get involved in this. What I get involved is do the job. And I do it and
07:26I honor it. And, and I, and then the rest is, it's up to them. If you like something, or if
07:31you hate something, or if you don't want, that's great. But the one thing that I absolutely love
07:36about Asher, Asher really provokes emotions in people. I love it. I love it when people
07:42come to me and say, I hated you in this show. I absolutely love that. You know why? Because
07:47that means I connected with you. You know, hate, love, the worst thing that I could be in a,
07:51in a, in a show is for you to say, oh, he was all right. Oh, that's the worst. To me,
07:57that's the worst. I would rather either love me or hate me. But, and I actually love hate
08:02me a little bit more. I don't know why. It could be Steven's fault. You know, he did
08:05this. So, so for me, how the, how the people perceive me, that's, that's not, that does not
08:12come here. I do my job and some people might like it, some people might not. That's very
08:16subjective. So, yeah, I don't, I don't think about this stuff. Yeah.
08:21Um, Steven, so this show is just as violent and, and, and sexy as before. Uh, maybe even more
08:30more. So, um, are there boundaries for you when you're making this? Like, you're new to
08:38Spartacus? I mean, we haven't found one yet. As you can see by the end of episode two, we
08:48have not found that boundary yet. Are there lines that you won't cross? Uh, I can't think
08:55of any. I hope you don't. No, no, no, no. We love, we love being bold. Yeah. And, uh,
09:02you know, this time in ancient Rome was a brutal, brutal time and hypersexual. So we're just able
09:11to explore that. And I'm very thankful to Lionsgate and stars that I have not gotten a
09:17note that said, whoa, can you pull it back? Like what happened to Criticus at the end of
09:23episode two, I was sure we were going to get a note about that. Nothing. So yeah, no,
09:30there hasn't been a line yet. But also to add to this, you know, a lot of people think
09:35that this is really rough, but in real life, the Roman history was even rougher than this.
09:40So we're not even close to that. So anything that you think it was really rough, it was actually
09:45rougher back then. So I hope we don't hold back. Yeah. But you know, it's, it's, again,
09:51there's nothing like this on TV. So you never know how people might react. And next thing
09:56you know, there's like the, you know, some parents' advisory is, uh, is out for blood.
10:01I welcome the parents' advisory out for blood.
10:07I mean, let's call it what it is. The show is not for everyone. That's, that's for sure.
10:10No. I mean, uh, the, the motto of stars is we're all adults here.
10:14Absolutely. So, you know, I can't control if some 14 year old sneaks downstairs and watches
10:20it or watches it on their phone. But this is obviously made for an adult audience.
10:27So one thing I love about the show is, is all the nudity. Uh, uh, you're alone in this one
10:34because no one else like this, not anyone. Uh, the second thing I love about this show though,
10:40is the dialogue. Uh, it's, I, I love the diction and I love how people are speaking in this. It's,
10:47it's both kind of elevated, but also crude at the same time. Uh, that's me in a nutshell.
10:54So how, how historically accurate is, is this dialogue?
10:59It is 100% not accurate. It is a complete construction like Deadwood. Um, I always say it's,
11:07uh, Shakespeare meets Conan the Barbarian. Two of my favorite things.
11:12Thank you very much. We'll have a clap. Thank you very much.
11:14And, uh, and really what we wanted to do is convey a sense of antiquity, uh, not historical
11:21accuracy with, with Latin translation. And so, you know, you can see some of the things we do.
11:28We say apologies instead of I'm sorry. We say gratitude instead of thank you. We drop out a lot
11:34of thes and ands and a's. Um, but it's kind of by feel. We just wanted to have that sense of
11:43transporting you to another time. Uh, Nick, how, how hard it is, how hard is it to, to, to speak the,
11:51the lines? Oh, super easy. Oh, I just, I speak like this all the time. I'm pretending right now.
11:56Uh, no, it's extremely hard, man. Extremely, extremely hard. And not just for the language,
12:01which is hard on its own, but also the dialogue that Steven writes. Because it's such a demanding
12:07writing that you have to be fully involved. It demands a lot of you. And as an actor, I absolutely
12:12love that. I love to be completely immersed in a character. Um, when I was prepping for
12:17Spartacus before I got the scripts, uh, I mean, I was trying to think because I always say,
12:22the best way I think of Spartacus is thinking backwards. So I'm like, what's the closest thing
12:27for me to think backwards? That would be Shakespeare. Because I hate Shakespeare. I was like,
12:31let me, let me work on this. So, so I would, I started working on Shakespeare a lot just to get
12:35my mind around that language. But even with that, it's still tough. I think I didn't quite dropped in
12:43until episode three. After episode three, I felt like, okay, I got a handle of this. And there are a
12:48lot of times where you feel like, oh, what is this? Is this C? Or is it K? What am I saying?
12:55So there's a lot of that. But, but, but, but the writing's so good, you kind of understand
12:59where it's going. So it makes it a little bit easier. So yeah.
13:03Steven, when you write that dialogue, how do you approach it from, you know, out of your brain?
13:09You just, well, I take out all the X out all it does.
13:12I have a brilliant writer's room. So we spend a lot of time in the room,
13:17just obsessing over one sentence to make sure we get it right. And really, again, it's kind of a
13:24feel thing. Because it's not like we eliminate all the thes and all the ands. It's a case by case
13:31situation to just see if by ear it sounds correct. And I know with Nick, we always talked about in the
13:40original series. Nick, you told me once watching John Hanna play body artist and all of his long
13:47speeches and how gruesome that was to learn. And then, of course, you have all the long speeches
13:54now. I was like, oh, John had it easy. I was like, oh, shit. Yeah. He had the speeches. He didn't have
14:00to fight. Oh, yeah. The speeches, the fight and everything. I'm like, be careful what to say in front
14:04of Steven. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they're just delicious. Once, once, I mean, once you get around this,
14:10that that initial fear of like, oh, this is massive. But once you get around and you get
14:14into it, it's, you know, something clicks, you know, and I and again, this is I'm a big fan of
14:19Steven's writing. So he makes my job very easy. So oftentimes, I don't have to act much. I just have
14:28to say the words and they evoke emotions. And I'm right there. But the volume is tough. Like when I
14:34read the first episode, I'm in every scene except maybe one. I'm like, holy shit. But
14:41you know, I made it.
14:42And you have some great speeches, too.
14:44Lovely speeches. Absolutely. Lovely speeches. Again, I can't complain. Even as tough as it
14:48is, I cannot complain because it's so good. I've worked on shows, many shows that you're
14:53there and you're working on. I'm like, oh, jeez. I don't know what I'm saying. I don't
14:56know how to make sense of this. You don't like the people you work with. You don't like the
15:00writing. This is just a blessing. Yeah. Going back to the nudity for a section. For
15:09a section. For a section. Okay. A second. Now, in the last several years, we've seen the
15:18rise of intimacy coordinators, which weren't really around when you guys first made the
15:24initial series. So has that changed your philosophy or approach when you do these scenes? I don't
15:33even want to call them intimate scenes because episode two is really not an intimate scene
15:37at all. Yeah. You know, look, it's just, it's another tool. And I welcome a safety net for
15:47the actors. So everybody feels comfortable and taken care of. Because it is, I mean, being
15:53nude on camera is not easy, especially on this show. That can get fairly graphic. So yeah,
16:01the introduction of intimacy coordinators, I think, was a great addition.
16:05Yeah. But also, I mean, it depends where you come from. I come from a theater world where
16:10this was already, we didn't have intimacy coordinator. We just talk about it. Like,
16:14what are you okay with? What are you not okay with? And be absolutely blunt about it. And,
16:19but now bringing that in, that's great for the new generation. That's, that's, that's awesome. But
16:22also going about being nude after a while with Spartacus, it becomes easy. I seen you naked. Okay.
16:28Then we get, you get over that. You're like, all right. So just, you're just naked. Okay. Moving
16:33on. It's really, it becomes just another scene. Right. I mean, not everybody is, is, is for
16:38intimacy coordinators. So I just wanted to see, you know, how that affects your, your
16:42surgery. I think it's, it's, it's good to have, it's good to have, but a lot of their,
16:46well, I mean, I've worked with people that they're, they got it. So it becomes quick.
16:51Like, oh, you good? Yeah, you're good. All right. We're good. We're moving on. But
16:53it's good to have in case something, something happens. Yeah. Sure.
16:57Um, you, at least in these two episodes, the first episode, you do have one fight scene.
17:03Um, are you less physical, uh, in, in this season than, than the previous series or?
17:10Not at all. Not at all. This was just a tickle. This was just a tease. Yeah. There's much more
17:16coming in. There is, I was, I think I was telling you earlier, there's an episode four,
17:20there's a beautiful fight scene in the streets. It's kind of like a born identities, um, fight
17:26with me and chorus. We, we, we take on a bunch of people really, really nice. And what happens
17:31afterward is just absolutely delicious. I love it. Um, there was a scene that we always come
17:37with me if you want to live. If I don't know if anybody watched Terminator, come with me
17:40if you want to live. That's the kind of feel about it, which is really nice. There is that.
17:45And then there is the massive fight in episode 10. I wish I can tell you about it. It took
17:53us three days to film it. It took us three days to film that scene, but it's going to
17:58shock you. I bet you by episode 10, you're going to be like, did they just do this? It's
18:04so good. So yeah, there's a lot of fights coming in and I love it. And I love, I'm a very physical
18:09guy, so I love it. Uh, Steven, um, I'm sure this, this show to recreate, uh, ancient Roman times is,
18:17it's probably not cheap. Uh, in, are you using a green screen? Are you using the volume or have you
18:25considered using AI? Yeah, we use predominantly green screen. It, we, we shoot it almost exactly
18:31like we did the original, which was largely green screen. Uh, the only real addition we
18:38have is, is we have, uh, I guess you would call it our lower tech volume screen, which
18:45is, is, is just, uh, I want to say it's 2k panels. Um, and it's, it's a smaller one that
18:52we can move around. And that was purely because if you look at the original series, whenever
18:57Badiatis was in his office, we had the doors closed to the balcony because otherwise it
19:03was a green screen shot every time you saw it. Now we have this digital screen that we
19:09can put clouds in the moon so we can have those doors open. Um, but doing it beyond that, it
19:15felt like overkill for us. It was so nice though. It was nice to have those doors open. The first
19:19time I looked out the balcony, I'm like, Oh, there's a sunset. Oh, that's nice. I was really
19:24looking at it. It was really nice. Yeah. We couldn't afford to open the doors in the original.
19:28No, there was a lot of things we couldn't afford in the first season. It was a little tight.
19:31We were, we weren't filming in studio and sound studios. We were filming in sheds. We were
19:36freezing our ass off and we were supposed to, we barely clothed and we were supposed to be
19:41like, Oh, this is hot. We want the rain. And we were freezing. There were a couple of scenes
19:46when the rain actually came in. Fucking Rick Jacobson. I still remember. Rick Jacobson
19:51is one of our executive producer. Brilliant man. He's one of the, he directed the first
19:54two episodes. So we were doing a scene in the original and, and you know, it was just
19:59rain and there's a big orgy scene that's happening. And Rick decided to throw cold water at me
20:04while I'm in the middle of the scene. So he just started throwing cold water at me. He's
20:09like, no, I just wanted to get into it. I'm like, what the fuck, man? I'm freezing
20:12already. So yeah. Yeah. Thankfully this time around, they actually built New Zealand, built
20:19a big studio. So we're in an actual studio with heat. Steven. So this show has a, has
20:25a very large cast. What can you tell us about some of the new characters that you have created
20:32and we'll see, you know, further on in this episode? I mean, I guess Julius Caesar is coming,
20:37right? Julius Caesar and his awful, horrible wife, Cornelia, who puts the screws to Asher
20:45in some very uncomfortable ways. Yeah. Those are the two big ones that are coming in later.
20:54But we wanted to really fill out the cast. We obviously, we have the first gladiatrix,
21:00Mika Davis, playing Achillea. And we were very fortunate enough to get Graham McTavish as
21:07Chorus. And with Graham McTavish and Claudia Black as Kasudia, it was one of those rare things.
21:14I actually wrote these roles for these specific actors and you never get the actual actor, but
21:20the stars aligned and we got both of them. And I think the show is just much better for it.
21:27Yeah. And, and, and yeah, and you've seen a couple of people here also in episode one and two,
21:31um, Andrew McFarlane, one of my favorite people. Phenomenal. Plays Gabinius. I absolutely love this
21:37man. He was, he was really great. India Shaw Smith plays the daughter. She plays Viridia. That's
21:43she's great. Jamaica, Ivana. Uh, we have, I don't know, Arlo, does Arlo show up in, uh, in the early
21:49ones? Yeah. He pops up. You see him. Yeah. Yeah. But there, there is some really, really good actors
21:54that we have coming up. Cause I always say, yes, it's called the House of Asher, but it's not just
21:57about Asher. It's just like with Spartacus. It was called Spartacus, but what made it successful,
22:01it was everybody else too. And you're going to see some really, really good, good characters.
22:07Uh, yeah. Well, what I love about the first episode is you sort of build up this guy who
22:13you think is going to be somewhat of a hero. He even has the big hero speech and, uh, and
22:19then he's cut down, you know, right in the, in the arena. And I think I love how the show
22:24kind of pulls the rug out of that. So yeah, that's exactly what, uh, what we wanted to set
22:30up is, is thinking that this is going to be the new Spartacus and then the brother Sparox just
22:34straight up murder him. Yeah. Brother first, that's another, those are three bunch. They were
22:39amazing to work with Lee and the, and the other guys that were so fantastic to work with. There
22:44were a lot of fun. They, they really, they, they commanded something on screen and they just
22:50cracked me up while I was filming. They did some stuff while I was filming that I, it's,
22:56it's, they are devils, three devils. They really are. There was one scene, I'm doing a, I don't,
23:02I don't think it said, I think it's episode four or something. I'm in, I'm in the market. I'm talking
23:06to Proculus, I think. And, and, and Proculus is just giving me the shit and I'm going back
23:12and forth with him. And that three of them is just sitting there and they have no dialogue.
23:19And they just kept on looking at me and doing this. I'm like, I'm giving my, I'm looking
23:26at him, I'm like, what the fuck? And he's like, you want us to stop? I'm like, no, that's
23:31great. But they would do stuff like this all the time. It was amazing. I loved working with
23:35those guys. Yeah. Yeah. You'll see more of them. They're really, really fantastic. They're
23:40fantastic. The sad thing is that you have all these great characters, but you don't
23:45know how far they're going to last and how much attached you should get to them. Yeah.
23:51Never get too attached to anybody. A lot of people get the Varo treatment. Oh yeah. Oh
23:57yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah. Yeah. As soon as I saw like, oh, father and son, I'm like, ooh,
24:01that's not going to end very well. No comment. Very quiet all of a sudden. Nick, what was
24:16your favorite, without giving away too much detail, I guess, what was your favorite fight
24:20scene to do in this first season? It's the one on episode four. Wow. Four, ten. There's
24:30some good ones. Yeah, there's really good ones. The one in three with Achillea. Oh. Oh,
24:36yeah. I almost forgot about that. Yeah. Wow. You fight Achillea? You hurt nothing. You hurt
24:41nothing. If I have to pick, there's one, and something about four. Yeah, four is special.
24:49There's something about four. It's as we fight in the streets. Yeah, it's kind of like I was
24:54saying earlier. It was kind of like a Bourne ultimatum. We were, you know, I take on like
25:00five guys, and Khorus takes on five guys, and we're fighting like in small quarters, and
25:04we're using everything. That was really brilliant, but I'm fighting for a reason. And that's something
25:11that's very new for Asher in this season. You see a bit of his vulnerability. You see a bit
25:15of his heart, which is something that Steven, again, nailed it. And the fight happens because
25:21of that reason. It happens because of something that Asher is feeling, which is he's not really
25:28used to feeling so much. He's a very brainsy guy. So the fight happens because of that.
25:33And it's quite amazing. And it's vicious. And the way it ends, I wish I can tell you what
25:37it is. I know I'm teasing, but it's so good. It's so good. And Maya, our director, she was
25:43our first female director in the world of Spartacus, and she was so good. And the way she nailed
25:48it with the lights and all that, that was so good. So good. I can't wait for you guys
25:52to see it. That was really brilliant.
25:55Nick, you said that Steven, one of the first things that he told you was the very last line
26:00of the last episode that you say. So Steven, do you know, is that how you write? Do you
26:09write with an ending in mind and then work backwards?
26:10Well, I tend to make a lot of notes. But before we start each season, I always know
26:17the beginning, middle and end. Because that way we can fill it out. And it doesn't seem
26:23awkward or weird in some episodes. So for season one, yeah, when I talked to Nick, initially,
26:30I pitched him that last line of the first season.
26:34Steven's leave for two years. It's amazing. That line is so good. And it makes sense because
26:40of what happens. Yeah, it's so good. I cannot wait for you guys to see it. It's really, really
26:46good.
26:47So the first season hasn't actually come out yet. It comes out on December 5th, I believe.
26:53Correct, correct.
26:55How much more do you have planned out?
26:57I always plan series out from five to seven years, five to seven seasons. So we've got
27:07a lot of story and a lot of places to take Asher.
27:13Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, season two is already written.
27:16Yeah, yeah, we wrote season two.
27:18Ready to go.
27:19All right, yeah.
27:20Tell these guys to tune in.
27:22Yeah, as long as you guys tune in and watch, we have more.
27:24Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
27:25All right. Well, I want to thank you all for coming out here tonight and joining us.
27:32Thank you so much, guys.
27:32Thank you, guys. Thank you for coming. Thank you.
Be the first to comment