Although Andy Whitfield will certainly be missed in the newest edition of Spartacus, I can say with confidence that replacement actor Liam McIntyre is just as pretty to look at. The newly minted Spartacus was on stage Friday at the Television Critics Association Press Tour to promote the upcoming season — Vengeance, and according to him the writers threw him right into the role.
“When I saw what they wanted me to do, my jaw dropped,” he admitted when asked what his first on-screen kill was like. “When you do see that episode, I think you’ll know exactly (why). God, that would have hurt so much. That took some precision, too.”
Shortly after Whitfield permanently bowed out of the series because of his cancer and McIntyre was named as his replacement, the former Spartacus contacted McIntyre to congratulate him and to offer up some advice on getting through the gruelling schedule while still looking dapper — such as lifting a lot of heavy weights.
"I think that speaks volumes of a man," McIntyre admitted, after producers declined to give an update on Whitfield's health. "He’s fantastic, and his legacy from Season 1 will continue forever. And my job is the big job of trying to keep this show as exciting. But that's made easy because it's an ensemble."
Most of that ensemble will return for the new season, including Doctore, the traitorous Ilithyia, and even Lucretia, who at the end of the first season of Spartacus seemed to have suffered from a fatal wound to the stomach.
“She just scabs over,” portrayer Lucy Lawless laughed. “There is a scar actually. But you do find out how she survived, and it’s going to backfire horribly on her.”
Characters aside, the storylines in Spartacus’ third instalment are “quite different” than the first two, according to actor Maru Bennett, who portrays Crixus. “The characters this season are very bizarre. There’s some real twisted sort of things going on. ”
Spartacus: Vengeance is set to return to Starz and The Movie Network/Movie Central in early 2012. In the meantime, check out this preview clip:
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Amber is currently reporting live from the TV Critics Press Tour in L.A.
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