Pop-Culturalist.com

Peacock’s thrilling new television series, Those About to Die, makes it’s mark on San Diego Comic Con just after all ten episodes dropped on the streaming platform.

Set in Ancient Rome during the reign of Vespasian, Those About to Die is full of chariot races, gladiator battles, people fighting to survive, and political intrigue. The series begins with Emperor Vespasian (played by the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins) deciding which of his two sons to leave the Empire to – Titus (Tom Hughes), the soldier, or Domitian (Jojo Macari), the cunning politician. There’s factions of patricians vying for more power like the White faction led by Consul Marsus (Rupert Penry-Jones) and his wife Antonia (Gabriella Pession). Also trying to climb the social and political ladder is Tenax (Iwan Rheon) who is the owner of Rome’s largest betting tavern; his prize chariot racer is Scorpus (Dimitri Leonidas). Finally, there’s Cala (Sara Martins), a Numidian trader who comes to Rome in hopes to save her daughters from slavery while her son Kwame (Moe Hashim) is forced to be a gladiator for the Empire.

The show is helmed by Executive Producer and director Roland Emmerich who stopped by SDCC. Joining him were cast members Iwan Rheon (Tenax), Sara Martins (Cala), Moe Hashim (Kwame), Jojo Macari (Domitian), Dimitri Leonidas (Scorpus), and Gabriella Pession (Antonia). We were able to chat about bringing the world of Those About to Die to life for viewers.

Roland Emmerich, beloved filmmaker of the Independence Day franchise, said that he’s always had “a fascination with Rome. I kind of think it’s incredible…It had one million inhabitants [and] around 300,000 more slaves. And, naturally, out of these slaves there were kind of some stars because they became very good at what they were doing – riding a chariot or being a great gladiator.” Emmerich spent years studying Roman history, particularly that of Vespasian saying, “I found it very interesting that he was a normal guy, you know, not a patrician….He was super smart…He realized that, you know, in a way, the Circus Maximus was not very good for gladiator fights. He builds on the place…a public arena for the Roman people which still stands today. And that changed everything.”

In addition to the Emperor, some of the other characters are based on true historical figures: Scorpus, Domitian, and Titus. On playing famed chariot racer Scorpus who was a real Roman racer, Dimitri Leonidas explained, “You’re bringing up 2,000 years ago [so it’s] the past we can only assume. There’s historical text and references, but there’s a large element that you can’t know.” He continues, “There’s not a whole lot of stuff about [Scorpus]. There was a poem by the Roman poet Martial where he references Scorpus a few times. There’s a few really beautiful lines about [how] the gods must have mistaken Scorpus as an old man judging by the number of races that he’s run. When we were in Rome filming, I went and visited Circus Maximus — the real space– and stood there and thought, ‘You know, 2,000 years ago…this very spot he would have been here racing.’ And that was really weird…like 2000 years of incomprehensible amount of time, and, yet, I’m on a spot where I know for certain he would have been here. So, I used him, but…it’s my imagination of Scorpus from what they’ve written, trying to bring that to light.”

For Jojo Macari playing the historical figure of Domitian, he actually avoided diving into other Roman shows to prep for this. Being in Rome was enough as he describes, “I can go and stand in the middle of the Colosseum or can go up one hill and stand in where Domitian would have slept. And, like, that that gets you in the zone more than [anything].” He focused on Domitian’s motivation. It’s all about his drive for power. He says, “Domitian is desperate and obsessed with power and control. And that is essentially what drives 90% of what he does. He feels like he’s been done dirty time. His father is not respecting him in the same way as he respects his brother….Getting me through the day is ‘how do I get to that power?’ And there’s a big obstacle in my way, and the obstacle is my big bro, Titus. [laughs] So yeah, that’s my main motivation: screw over my big bro.”

The other characters on the show, however, are not based on actual people in history, but Gabriella Pession shared that to play subtly-scheming Antonia she “took some inspiration from real women…I read a lot about [famous Ancient Roman women]. Women did not have any political power or say…Antonia, though, is basically a politician, but she can’t be.” As a native Italian and as someone who lives in Rome, Gabriella explained that “there’s a gallery of very powerful women like Livia Drusilla and Valeria Messalina…I studied all this at school as well. So I think bringing to life [Antonia] can be a sum of all of these amazing [historical] characters and [their] contributions is something very interesting that I don’t think has ever been done before.”

Similarly, Moe Hashim talks about how there’s a historical basis for his character of Kwame, but Those About to Die builds a richer foundation for an often-untold story. He explained that in other Roman shows “North Africa is just kind of put in there; like [it’s] just a little part [so] you can know that they existed during that time. So in our story, it’s not only me, but my family [is] very, very strong [throughout] the whole show…to see, Kwame find his way to become successful [and] my mother, who’s played by Sara, how she maneuvers around the Roman Empire and finds her way to become very powerful woman…[that] was so new and fresh.” Sara Martins, who plays Cala, adds about her, “I admire everything about my character. She’s really strong. She never complains, never said they’ll never kneel. She always for the next solution. She’s a force of nature.”

The main cornerstone character of the show is, though, Tenax. Not based on any particular historical character, he is a favorite of director Roland Emmerich. In fact *spoiler* he shared that he envisions Those About to Die as a three season arc with this end game: “Tenax will find out that he has a certain name and, all of a sudden, the chance that he becomes Emperor is quite big. And I want to show him at the very end of season 3 as an Emperor. He’s the ultimate climber. It’s inspiring.” Actor Iwan Rheon describes portraying Tenax and his morally grey character as “finding out the truth of that character.” He continues, “I know it sounds a bit wanky, but it’s telling the truth of that person. And, I think that’s what acting actually is: acting is actually telling the truth. It’s not lying. People always say, ‘Oh, you must be a brilliant liar.’
You just find the truth. You don’t judge [your character] and you play them as truth. And then hopefully the audience will believe that you are that person.”

With the characters forming a strong and compelling foundation for the incredible visuals of Those About to Die, viewers are in for a treat. As Gabriella says, it’s a “Game of Thrones-like size of a show, but making Rome so entertaining, so visceral, alive, and vibrant.”

Those About to Die is now available to stream on Peacock. Check out the trailer here.

Photo Credit: Christine Bartolucci/Peacock