If you have seen Lucy Lawless in the Spartacus Season 2 trailer you will know how scary she looks and she does have that Vengeance in her eyes.Here is the interview with Lucy Lawless where she talks about her role in season 2,what we can expect and what kind of bumpy ride we are in for.
In the trailer, you’re looking a little…crazy.
A little disheveled. Here’s the thing – when you think about it, she’s lost everything …and maybe even her mind. But this show is full of surprises, so whatever you think is going on, it ain’t that. They make it very twisty.
Even more than last year?
Yeah. Well, it’s a pretty twisty situation for Lucretia because she has no allies, only enemies. And she has to figure out how to become useful. And the people around her are her mortal enemy, Ilithyia, Ilithyia’s husband, and no slaves to speak of any more.
So, you’ve really gone from being Lady MacBeth to –
Lady MacDuff. She’s got nothing. It’s a very interesting place to find her.
Were you surprised to find that you were coming back for season two? Or did you know that all along?
No. No, no, no. Lucretia was originally slated to die. They had this lovely little story arc: Spartacus and his men all break out, and it’s over for us. They were supposed to move on. But I always thank the press very much, because they showed up to interview me. And that probably made Starz go, “Hang on a minute…she’s useful!” (Lawless laughs.) Still, that wouldn’t have saved me alone. They had to have good stories for me.
That’s what I was going to say. There have been many instances where characters have been brought back for the sake of ratings, and it hasn’t worked. But it looks like it has worked fairly naturally here.
Ilithyia and Lucretia have a lot of unfinished business, and that remains a very powerful driving force in our Roman world. It’s really about those two. So I get to work with the incredible Viva Bianca…she’s really filled the void that John Hannah left. He’s was my acting partner, and we had a wonderful chemistry. But I believe that Viva and I have a very different and very rich relationship on the screen, and in real life. Good woman. A good friend.
As you say, Lucretia will have nothing, which was so different than what she had before. Even the actors (who play gladiators) on the panel said, “we’d fight, we’d go see Lucretia…” you were in a position of power. But all of that is topsy turvy this season.
She’s really going to struggle to get back on top. However, she has a guiding light. She has a guiding principle. I wonder if you guys can guess what that is, because nothing that Lucretia does is without an endgame in mind. She has a mission, and that’ll unfold throughout the series. There is a prophesy – she was quite religious, you know – and she, in her mind, is chosen by the gods to see that the prophesy is fulfilled.
I’ve also read that they’re casting a female warrior. That must be interesting for you to see, given your legacy with “Xena” and everything…
No legacy. That was then.
Well, it’s still a very important part of popular culture. But now, you’re on the other side where you’re doing the political role while someone else is doing the physical.
I much prefer it! It’s lovely. I’m glad I’m out of that arena. I see them all sweating and grunting down there in the sand, and I pity the poor woman who has to join that fray. But she’ll have a good time. The stunt team, they’re all real gentlemen. They’re lucky if they get somebody who’s a dancer, because it’s really much more akin to dancing than fighting. But first and foremost, she has to be a great actress. Because you can stunt double somebody who isn’t great with the action yet, but they can’t stunt double the acting. But…good luck to that girl!
What you said in the panel made me think a lot about perception, on our side, versus the actor or the actress. When someone observed that “Spartacus” is filled with all these very strong female characters, you were saying that you didn’t think Lucretia was very strong at all.
Well, her strength is in her drive to survive. She has no power, is what I said. I didn’t say she isn’t strong. She is. She has to overcome overwhelming obstacles…The whole thing in “Gods of the Arena” is that she had to make her house into a whorehouse, or they would brutalize her slaves. That really was not OK with her, but she doesn’t have any say in that society. She had to do as her husband commanded, and she was left holding the can at the end of the day when it all went wrong.
Do you see a day when Lucretia gets to return to power and make the rules?
I’m not sure she’ll ever achieve that status again. That would be her desire, but I’m not sure she will get that. But if she continues to survive, she’s winning. She’ll defy the odds every day. There are so many things I want to tell you, but I can’t!
Perhaps you can at least tell us if there’s anything that we should keep an eye on as season two develops.
Almost everything relates back to (Lucretia’s) husband, and her promise to him. From the beginning of “Gods of the Arena,” everything was about the Batiatus character, including killing his father…but the way to fulfill her promise to her husband is through Ilithyia.
