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Trivia / Spartacus: Blood and Sand

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  • Actor-Inspired Element:
    • Nick E Taraby improvised Ashur eating during a couple of scenes where ominous things are happening, and they would often cut to it as an easy edit, so the writers began specifically writing Ashur eating in such scenes as a Pass the Popcorn moment.
    • Todd Lasance was given input on what Animal Motif that Caesar would have, and he chose the wolf because wolves are his favorite animal.
    • The script for the final episode actually had Laeta kissing Spartacus as he dies. Dan Feuerriegel however felt it should be changed to have Agron kiss him on the forehead instead, feeling it would be more emotional coming from someone Spartacus considered a brother.
  • Actor-Inspired Heroism: Varro was meant to be a Mauve Shirt who died early on. Jai Courtney's friendship with Andy Whitfield led to him being expanded into Spartacus's closest friend and his eventual death became an even bigger Tear Jerker.
  • Awesome, Dear Boy: Katrina Law was initially reluctant to sign on due to the nudity required, but changed her mind when she saw the trailer, and was assured there would be lots of Male Frontal Nudity to balance things out.
  • Billing Displacement: Many actors play prominent characters and yet aren't included (or even promoted) in the main billing.
    • Lesley-Ann Brandt (Naevia), Antonio Te Maioha (Barca), and Craig Walsh-Wrightson (Solonius) in both Blood and Sand and Gods of the Arena. Ironically, Brandt's replacement Cynthia Addai-Robinson gets the promotion to the closing credits.note 
    • Heath Jones (Donar) and Barry Duffiel (Lugo) in both Vengeance and War of the Damned.
    • Jai Courtney (Varro) in Blood and Sand.
    • Jeffrey Thomas (Titus Batiatus) and Stephen Lovatt (Tullius) in Gods of the Arena.
    • Pana Hema Taylor (Nasir), Peter McCauley (Lucuius Caelius) and Hannah Mangan-Lawrence (Seppia) in Vengeance. Taylor was promoted the following season.
    • Gwendoline Taylor (Sibyl) in War of the Damned.
  • Breakthrough Hit: The TV series significantly raised Steven S. DeKnight's profile as a showrunner.
  • Cast the Expert: For the orgy scenes, a professional New Zealand company that specialises in sexual gatherings was hired. They were told to do whatever they wanted on camera, and anything that was too much for the network would be edited.
  • Contractual Purity: Along with her nude scene in The Cabin in the Woods, this marked a Hotter and Sexier direction by Anna Hutchison to break away from her wholesome image from Power Rangers Jungle Fury.
  • Creator Breakdown: In an interview before the premiere of War of the Damned, Manu Bennett lamented his belief that the show could go for one more season (seeing that it's a Compressed Adaptation, he may have had a valid point).
  • Creator-Chosen Casting: Lucy Lawless was the first and only choice for Lucretia. Steven S DeKnight was apprehensive about suggesting her, since her husband Rob Tapert was one of the producers and the role required lots of nudity, but he ended up getting a call from Tapert saying "what do you think about Lucy playing Lucretia?"
  • Died During Production:
    • Original lead star Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer immediately after the inaugural season aired. A Prequel second season was written to give him recovery time, and when that ultimately didn't happen, he was recast in the final two seasons. He passed away immediately after Vengeance finished production.
    • SFX Lead editor Grant Konfeld passed away sometime before the final season.
  • Dyeing for Your Art: The actors playing the gladiators had a strict boot camp and diet to ensure their physiques. The women had a strict diet and workout too, but obviously not the extent of the gladiator one. However, there are specific examples:
    • Liam McIntyre came onto the series severely underweight from another role and had to bulk up.
    • Manu Bennett actually grew his hair and beard twice for the series.
    • The naturally blond Anna Hutchinson had to dye her hair red to play Laeta.
  • Enforced Method Acting: Manu Bennett opted not to drink alcohol throughout filming Blood & Sand to stay "clean". However, when filming the scene of Crixus confronting Lucretia and then stabbing her in the womb, he took a shot of tequila to loosen up.
  • Executive Meddling:
    • For the series' first big orgy scene (episode 6 of Blood And Sand), the director had noted that Starz kept telling the production crew that they could go farther with the sex, nudity, blood, violence, and profanity. So the director deliberately went as far he could think to go in filming the orgy scene to try and make the Starz executives finally say "okay, that's too far." The bulk of what was shot ended up in the episode.
    • Starz not only gave permission but encouraged the use of Male Frontal Nudity. This led to Manu Bennet deciding to play his first scene as Crixus with Spartacus completely nude, which gave Crixus' bluster a much different tone.
  • Fake Nationality: Nobody is from any of the areas of the Roman Republic where their characters would have originated:
  • Fake Brit: Combining most of the above with The Queen's Latin results in this trope.
  • Follow the Leader: The influence of 300, Rome and Gladiator is pretty obvious here.
  • Friendship on the Set: Jai Courtney has said that he and Andy Whitfield were just as close off screen as they were on it, and they remained friends until the latter's death. The former even acted as a producer on the Be Here Now documentary.
  • In Memoriam: The first episode of Vengeance had an ending dedication to Andy Whitfield, the series' original lead. He is honored again in the Grand Finale, this time along with the show's VFX lead editor Grant Konfeld.
  • Irony as She Is Cast: Lucretia is a natural brunette who wears blonde wigs. Lucy Lawless is a natural blonde who has had to dye her hair brown for certain roles.
  • Meme Acknowledgement: Liam McIntyre finds the "Hold... Hold... NOW!" meme amusing.
  • Method Acting: Cynthia Addai-Robinson was crying for real during Crixus' death scene, using the death of her father (who had recently passed away from cancer at the time). Manu Bennett, who didn't know how he was going to play the scene, said once she told him what she would be doing, he realized he didn't have to do anything but react to her. The look of support Crixus gives Naevia is actually from Manu to Cynthia.
  • The Other Darrin:
    • Spartacus' original actor Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the first season aired, ultimately passing away on September 2011. Liam McIntyre replaced him as Spartacus in the last two seasons.
    • Cynthia Addai-Robinson replaced Lesley-Ann Brandt as Naevia, who decided not to renew her contract with Starz due to money issues. She clarified in 2022 that, as she was still living in New Zealand in the first season, she had been contracted as a "local hire", and thus was paid less. She had moved to Los Angeles by the time of Vengeance and noticed the increased pay she was getting from productions there, and negotiated for more pay since Naevia was now a series regular. According to her, the manager she hired to negotiate the deal botched it, and schedule conflicts meant a recasting.
  • Playing Against Type: To most American audiences, John Hannah. Widely known as bumbling brother Jonathan in the Mummy movies, he shows a very dark side in the fifth episode. To a lesser extent, Lucy Lawless as his conniving wife. The two actors enjoyed playing against type so much that they both came back to reprise their characters for the upcoming prequel mini-series.
  • Promoted Fanboy: Liam McIntyre had been a huge fan of the show.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot:
    • The reason Gods of the Arena was made is because Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer shortly after the Season 1 finale. The showrunners and cast all hoped he would have time to recover, which sadly didn't happen.
    • Mild instance, but according to Liam McIntyre in this video, while filming for War of the Damned, he was hit in the right eye by a horse sneezing right next to him and it apparently left his vision blurry as well as blew off part of his eye. He insisted on continuing to film due to the show's tight schedule, and as a result, some shots are filmed from the left side of his face whenever possible.
  • Reality Subtext: As mentioned in Method Acting above, Cynthia Addai-Robinson has just lost her father to cancer prior to filming War of the Damned, which she used in making Naevia's grief at losing Crixus in the last two episodes feel genuine.
  • Referenced by...:
  • Short-Lived, Big Impact: The late Andy Whitfield is considered the star of the show by pretty much everyone despite only appearing in the inaugural season (two if you count flashback cameos in the prequel). Even Liam McIntyre outright stated upon being cast that he hated the fact that he had to replace him.
  • Spared by the Cut: Two different versions of the Season 1 ending were filmed. One where Batiatus and Lucretia were both clearly dead and then another where the latter was "still twitching". The decision to retroactively spare Lucretia came later.
  • Spell My Name With An S: Many fans don't seem to know how to spell Ilithyia's name correctly.
  • Star-Making Role: Manu Bennett, Jai Courtney, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Katrina Law, Nick Tarbay, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and Liam McIntyre's acting profiles began to increase after their appearance on the show.
  • Those Two Actors:
  • Throw It In!:
    • When Mira interrupts Agron and Nasir making out while they're supposed to be on guard duty, Katrina Law deliberately took her time walking in to troll Dan Feuerriguel and Pana Hema-Taylor and force them to kiss for longer.
    • Writers planned for Agron to be killed by crucifixion in Season 4, but Stephen DeKnight refused because he'd already decided Agron and Nasir would make it to the end alive. The writers relented... but non-fatally crucified him anyways because the idea was too awesome to give up.
  • Unbuilt Casting Type: Jai Courtney would later end up typecast as stoic men of action or Jerkasses. In his breakout role, he plays a normal guy who has to become a gladiator to pay off his gambling debts. He's the only Nice Guy in a cast full of morally grey assholes, and of course he ends up being Too Good for This Sinful Earth.
  • Underage Casting: Andy Whitfield was nearly forty when he played Spartacus. When Liam McIntyre stepped into the role, he had only just turned thirty.
  • Wag the Director:
    • Lesley-Ann Brandt says that Naevia was originally supposed to wear the same skimpy outfits that the other female attendants can be seen wearing in the first couple of episodes (outright leaving their breasts uncovered). As it's later revealed that Naevia's virginity has been preserved, she felt it unrealistic that she wouldn't be more covered up. The showrunners agreed, and Naevia's costume became slightly more modest to distinguish her.
    • Viva Bianca recalls having lots of meetings and discussions about what she was comfortable doing, particularly with the graphic sex scene in "Whore". The directors and producers supported her on this however, and she admits "it wasn't always easy."
    • Manu Bennett likewise recalls watching back the scene of Illythia ogling Crixus and not realising how long the shot would linger on his naked body, and so appealed to producers, instating a new rule that a nude shot could not last in the edit for longer than three seconds.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • Varro was supposed to die in "Mark of the Brotherhood", but Jai Courtney's friendship and chemistry with Andy Whitfield led to his death being pushed back.
    • Lesley-Ann Brandt recalls being told that Naevia would probably be killed off by the seventh episode. Then the romance took off, and they were compelled to expand the character's role.
    • "Delicate Things" was initially intended to be largely a flashback episode showing Spartacus's and Sura's relationship from their first meeting until the beginning of the show.
    • In "Revelations", Solonius was meant to try to flee from Spartacus and die a coward, but the writers changed their minds due to the actor's good work and impressive physique, leading to Solonius fighting back and dying a warrior's death.
    • Dan Feurriegel talked about filming a scene in "Kill Them All", when Oenomaus would walk among the corpses and lament that he'd dedicated his whole life to the ludus. Agron would then express sympathy
    • During Titus Batiatus' death scene, his son Quintus Batiatus was meant to be present. With his dying breath, Titus would request Oenomaus be freed. Quintus would then decide not to honor this last request.
    • In "Libertus", when the rebels infiltrate the arena to bring it down, it was planned that Tullius' corpse be found at one point, OR Tullius would have somehow survived, but gone mad and be eating rats in the depths of the arena. Also, the spear that killed Cossutius was meant to have gone into his mouth and out the back of his head, as a fitting Karmic Death for a rapist.
    • The penultimate episode, The Dead and the Dying, was originally meant to be closer to the historical event in which Spartacus would have captured several Romans and forced them to fight each other in gladiatorial combat to honor Crixus, which would culminate in a battle between Ceasar and Tiberius. The writers decided that they couldn't have the second to last episode be nothing but the protagonists sitting down watching other people fight, so it was rewritten so that Spartacus, Gannicus, and the others fought the Romans themselves.
    • Mira was originally going to survive "Wrath of the Gods", and would have eventually become Gannicus' lover.
    • Agron was planned to die in the ludus massacre instead of Duro, but producers realised it would have more emotional impact if it was the latter. This is hilarious considering Agron is one of the few characters to survive the series.
    • A movie was planned, taking place between Vengeance and War of the Damned, but producers realized too much would have to be censored to get an NC-17 rating in the US.
    • Stephen Amell, Aidan Turner, and Prison Break alums Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell were the ones considered to replace Andy Whitfield as Spartacus before Liam McIntyre was cast. A lot of the show's cast would later appear on Amell's own Arrow and its spin-offs, including McIntyre (as well as both Miller and Purcell, strangely enough).
    • Lucretia was supposed to have died in the Season 1 finale along with everyone else. According to Viva Bianca, when Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer and Lesley-Ann Brandt chose not to renew her contract, Steven S. DeKnight wanted to keep as many familiar faces around to help viewers with the transition. As Lucy Lawless proved popular on set, and everyone loved her performance, they revealed she survived in Vengeance.
    • Barca was written to be Oenomaeus originally and the brotherly bond with Crixus was intended for him. However Antonio Te Maoiha was only available for six episodes, so they rewrote the character to be Barca and then had Doctore revealed to be Oenomaeus.
    • Steven S. DeKnight had stories planned to go a few more years, but the network decided to end after Season 3. They told him in advance, so he could wrap up the story.
    • According to Todd Lasance, a Caesar-centered spinoff made it to the point of having complete scripts but never made it off the ground due to DeKnight's departure from Starz and lack of funding.

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