“It’s very epic,” beamed Dimitri Leonidas of Peacock’s sweeping ancient Rome saga, Those About to Die. Leonidas plays Scorpus in the series, one of the series’ many pivotal roles — the character is the preeminent charioteer able to join any chariot team. For the right price. The epic saga features acting legend Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian, the head of the Flavian bloodline, and a man grooming his two very different sons, Titus (Tom Hughes) and Domitian (Jojo Macari), for the Imperial throne. The show is created by Robert Rodat with revered director Roland Emmerich (The Patriot, Independence Day) directing about five episodes.
“He’s tough and tender,” Leonidas noted of working with Emmerich, who also wore a supervising director hat in a massive special effects-infused production that spanned roughly 230 jam-packed days. Leonidas added:
He’s quite demanding and he knows what he wants,
and can be quite tyrannical to get there, but in the best way that a director should be
… because you’re dealing with a huge set on a huge scale. And then after “Cut,” he’s like, coming over laughing, and he’s like the sweetest person.
Leonidas and fellow cast members Gabriella Pession, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Moe Hashim, Iwan Rheon, and Sara Martins went on to unpack the larger-than-life tale with us. Here are some excerpts from our exclusive MovieWeb interviews.
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Tough Training Regime: ‘You Need to Lose Weight’
Those About To Die (2024)
3.5/5
Set in the year 79 AD in Rome, Those About to Die dives into the brutal and complex world of gladiatorial combat. The series explores the dark underbelly of Roman entertainment, where the promise of free food and blood-soaked spectacles keep the restless population in check. The narrative focuses on various characters from all corners of the Roman Empire, whose lives intersect in the grand arena.
- Release Date
- July 18, 2024
- Cast
- Anthony Hopkins , Tom Huges , Sara Martins , Jojo Macari , Gabriella Pession , Dmitri Leonidas , Moe Hashim , Iwan Rheon
- Seasons
- 1
“Well, I kind of thought I had a workout routine prior to this, but I really didn’t, compared to what was needed,” admitted Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, who plays muscular fighter Viggo in the series. “I mean, they were just working us every day, which is great. I had a costume fitting early on, and I’m trying on the costume, and I said to one of the costume people, ‘I think I need to maybe lose a little weight.” Their response? “Yeah, you need to lose weight.”
Jóhannesson is a mighty physical force in Those About to Die, playing a daunting Norse gladiator and an expert at fighting with weapons. He also befriends Kwame, played by Moe Hashim, in gladiator training in Rome 79 AD. Hashim’s character is part of several compelling story arcs, as his character is sold as a slave with his two sisters (Kyshan Wilson, Alicia Edogamhe), while his mother (Sara Martins) feverishly plots to get her children back.
“I did it the wrong way around at first,” Hashim said of his workout prep. “When I heard, ‘Okay, I’m going to end up being this gladiator,’ I started going to the gym, I got fitness training… got really amped up and muscly. Then, as I started reading through the episodes, and then I read, ‘Oh, we can’t take him because he’s too small and too skinny.” He added:
“I was like, ‘Oh wait, I’m too small. What I need to do is not look like a fighter, not look like a gladiator. So. I just started losing a little bit of weight to look as small and skinny as possible.”
4:09
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Iwan Rheon Says Game of Thrones Has Nothing on This Show’s Spectacle
Iwan Rheon may be best known for playing Ramsay Bolton in the HBO series, Game of Thrones. Here, he stars as Tenax, an ambitious if not beleaguered crime boss, who’s stretched entirely too thin. He says audiences will be wowed by the “spectacle” of the series, adding:
They’re going to see chariot racing, particularly, like it’s never been seen before. I think technology has moved forward in a way that now we can film them for a TV show and make it feel incredibly real.
He also noted: “The kind of sheer scale of Rome that you get in this… there’s these wonderful sweeping shots where you really get a sense of the city and how it would have been to live in Rome. We have incredible set design on a scale that I’ve never really seen… and [the series] is all incredibly high stakes. Every character is fighting for survival most of the time.” High praise from someone who worked on Game of Thrones.
3:25
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Those About to Die Shows ‘A Side of Rome We Barely Saw’
Sara Martins, who plays Cala in the show, turns in a memorable performance as a ruthless yet intelligent trader who is determined to save her family. She said the series offers viewers everything they would expect to see from a Roland Emmerich production, noting:
“But also on the narration,
it’s a side of Rome we barely saw
. It’s not only about the rich, the Patricians, the ruling family, and the opponents. It also talks about
all the workers, the slaves, the people thriving… what is behind the curtains of a city like Rome and all the slaves
that were building those beautiful buildings and everything. It shows life in Rome at the time and on every social scale.
4:19
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Gabriella Pession Unpacks the Character of Antonia
Indeed, Those About to Die does an effective job at switching its focus between all factions of life — from the poor to the ruling class. The Patricians fall into the latter category, owning four factions of horse and chariot racing teams, each represented by a different color: red, blue, green, and white. Considered ruthless politicians, their influence is felt. Gabriella Pession plays cunning Antonia, who’s pulling the strings of her husband Marsus (Rupert Penry-Jones), a retired general. Of the character, she said:
“
Antonia has been the role I’ve been waiting for throughout over 25 years of career
. It’s a role that allows an actress to really explore all different kind of areas of the human mind, and not having any limits. [She’s] a fun, wild animal that lives in this man’s world and she has no fear. She can be cruel, clever, manipulative, very childish in some moments.”
“Roland and Marco really allowed me to put a lot of instinctual things [in the] role to improvise or to make some choices that were a bit kind of strange or mad,” added Pession. It’s just one of many opportunities the actors had to dive into this massive historical epic.
Dive into the sweeping epic saga on July 17. Those About to Die streams on Peacock. Watch it through the link below: