 |
|
|
|
01.08.2007 | NEW CAST MEMBERS AND RETURNING ACTORS TALK ABOUT THE SECOND SEASON OF HBO'S EMMY®-WINNING EPIC DRAMA SERIES ROME, KICKING OFF JAN. 14
The new season of HBO's Emmy®-winning drama ROME is anything but more of the same. With Caesar dead, everything in the empire is up for grabs. Alliances are shifting, the stakes are higher and nobody is safe. But it's the best of all possible worlds for the show's talented actors, who get to explore new dimensions of their characters as the season unfolds.
Golden Globe nominee Polly Walker returns to ROME as the charismatic and conniving Atia, who finds her world in chaos following the assassination of her uncle, Julius Caesar, at the end of season one. "You're going to see a more grown-up version of Atia this season," notes Walker. "She'll be taking on a more aggressively political role, but she'll be torn between Mark Antony and her son Octavian.
"Things have changed radically for her - with Caesar gone, she's much more vulnerable, and she has more self-doubt. In her more reflective moments, you can see the woman behind the façade. But of course, she has many resources, including her wits."
Atia will need all of her wits to survive the treacherous twists of season two. Along with the death of Caesar, she must deal with the rise of his chosen heir - her son Octavian, who was never before taken seriously, but now proves to be a dangerous and forceful political strategist. "She hates her son now - she doesn't have the control over him that she used to, and now has to play him the way she plays other men in her life. He's no longer her creature, but at the same time she understands that she helped create this monster."
Adds Walker, "Atia will have to be a little more contrite this season. She has a lot to lose, and she really isn't a bad person. I hope people will feel for her."
James Purefoy's Mark Antony faces a radically changed landscape in ROME this season following the assassination of his ally Julius Caesar, including the rise of Caesar's anointed heir, Octavian. "The relationship between Octavian and Antony is very much one of fire and ice," notes Purefoy. "Octavian is a man who's relentlessly inhumane, in many ways. As cold as you like. But he does go on to become one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Roman emperor ever. Whereas Antony is much more like a meteor in the sky. You know it's going to crash and burn, but it makes an incredibly pretty pattern as it goes. He's a man who acts from his gut. And with Cleopatra, he really meets his match."
Antony's passion was obvious in his role as a military leader as well, adds Purefoy. "He comes out from Caesar's shadow a great deal in the second season. He's an amazingly colorful figure - very aggressive and certain of himself, and he believes in his men. The reason he was so popular with his men is that he was willing to get his hands dirty along with them, while you'd never see a spot of dirt on Octavian's nails. In that sense, you can't really fault him as a soldier and a general."
But Antony was ultimately a creature of his appetites, says Purefoy, who calls his character "a hedonist. He was a great lover of women and wine and partying who liked to live life right to the edge. His attitude to sex was 'bring it on.' "
In season two of ROME, Lindsay Duncan reprises her role as the scheming Servilia, Caesar's former lover and the driving force behind the ruler's assassination at the hands of her son Brutus and his co-conspirators. "Servilia is quite a sophisticated political operator, very aware of her status in the republic, and determined to further the cause of her family," explains Duncan. "She's proud and intelligent, and she's not going to take a back seat. The thing that really gets under her skin is that Atia destroys her relationship with Caesar."
Duncan notes that for Servilia, the murder of Caesar "is revenge for his ending their affair so brutally. To get rid of him and become the ruling family of Rome would suit her very well. Revenge on Atia is in the cards as well. So this is what they've planned for. This is the situation they hope to turn to their own ends." However, she adds, "When Brutus returns from Caesar's death he's really shaken, and I think that's when you get a clue that things probably won't go according to plan."
The key to understanding Servilia's actions, says Duncan, is the deep and longstanding mutual antipathy between her and Atia. "They're very different women. Servilia's prouder and more contained. I think Atia considers her kind of stuck-up. And Servilia will never be able to feel anything but hate for Atia because she brought about an end to her affair with Caesar."
Kerry Condon returns as Octavia, who became a pawn in the power struggle between her mother Atia and her lover Servilia in season one of ROME; the new episodes find her undertaking marriage and motherhood. "Her relationship with her brother Octavian is deteriorating this season, because he's changed," explains Condon. "As a result, I've grown closer to Atia." She notes that despite Octavia's frequent clashes with Atia in the first season, her character never stopped longing for her mother's approval, saying, "Although Octavia is cynical about Atia's motives at times, she still cares deeply about her and wants to be loved by her in return. After all, Atia's her mother."
While Condon concedes she sometimes wishes Octavia would be "a little less passive," she also acknowledges that her character has little opportunity to assert herself, given the circumstances. "Being brought up in that family, she can't stray very far politically form her mother and brother. Octavia attempts to be a nice person and do the right thing, but she has to play the game."
Whatever Octavia's shortcomings, Condon says, "I like her. She is me at my most sensitive. We all have that 'woe is me' feeling sometimes, right?"
Lyndsey Marshal returns as Cleopatra, who enjoys a higher profile in season two because of her all-consuming relationship with Mark Antony. "After the relationship of Caesar and Cleopatra in season one, I have more time to chart the journey of my character this year, which is nice," notes Marshal. "It can be a challenge to play this kind of iconic figure - it's like playing Marilyn Monroe. You can start doing an imitation of the image, rather than actually getting into the role of a real person, so you have to break down those barriers. For example, when Antony comes to meet Cleopatra in Egypt, we decided not to have her sitting on the throne, but lying around, lounging on the couch, because she's at home."
Marshal says that she and James Purefoy, who plays Antony, wanted the romance between Antony and Cleopatra to be vital and alive, not simply an historical reenactment. "We both had the idea that this is a love story that has continued for two thousand years, so it has to be something special. You want people to see these two lovers and say, 'What is going to happen to them?' Their love is so strong that it has a destructive quality to it. We wanted to get across the feeling that when you're in love, you think more, you drink more, you stay up all night and talk. It's a bit debauched.
"I admire Cleopatra. She was an incredibly intelligent woman, and a feisty woman. I love playing her."
Zuleikha Robinson ("Hidalgo") joins the cast as Gaia, a fearless warrior who uses her feminine wiles to wreak havoc on the world of the newly domesticated Titus Pullo. "She's a homewrecker," says Robinson. "But for her it's a matter of survival, needing a home, because she's never had one of her own. She's always been an outsider.
"Gaia's had a very hard life. We don't specify where she comes from, but the first time you see her, she already has a huge scar on her cheek. She has a lot of pride and she lives for honor. She'll step on anyone who gets in her way, but she'll protect you to the death if she has to. Gaia feels the universal need to be loved, so I can feel for her, although I'm sure some people will hate her.
"At first, it was a little intimidating to come into the show when it was already in full swing. But Gaia is a really juicy, amazing character, and so much fun to play. She's just so alive!"
Simon Woods ("Pride and Prejudice") joins the cast as the older Octavian, succeeding Max Pirkis, who played the younger Octavian in season one and the first part of season two. "I was a viewer in the first season, so it was exciting for me to be asked to join the show," says Woods. "I felt that because there was a gap in time between Max's portrayal and mine, I had some license in how I played him. I think Octavian is such a strange and interesting character. At first nobody took him seriously, but the funny thing is that he always takes himself very seriously."
He continues, "Octavian always has a plan going, which makes it fun to play him. You always know what he's trying to get out of any given situation, what he's trying to get out of other people. Octavian lacks many of the everyday pleasantries - he doesn't apologize, and he doesn't thank people. That doesn't mean he never feels gratitude, and that doesn't mean he never feels like apologizing, but he never expresses those feelings. He's incredibly guarded."
Why? "There's something about his upbringing that made him into quite a strange man," says Woods. "Just look at his relationships with his mother and his sister - they're all screwed up! As a result, he's had a kind of emotional shut-down, since his experiences have been so disastrous."
On the other hand, adds Woods, "I think Octavian is very good at listening to other people, which is I think is one of the things that's important in a great leader. It's a kind of humility, a word not normally associated with him."
Chiara Mastalli returns to ROME in the role of Eirene, the former slave girl who tames the heart of the wild and impulsive Titus Pullo. "She's growing up," says Mastalli. "She's forgiven Pullo for killing her lover. But he has also given her freedom, and she loves him, although she is ashamed for what he did."
While Eirene readily accepts Pullo's proposal of marriage, the actress feels her character never saw any alternative. "She would never say no to Pullo. Although she is free, she still calls him master. She views Pullo as both a lover and a father figure. After the marriage, Eirene becomes more of a lady."
Ultimately, Eirene may be not be equipped to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of ROME. "She's not calculating," says Mastalli. "Like Pullo, she's a very straightforward person. She's pure."
Lee Boardman's Timon assumes a greater role in the spotlight this season, having previously been allied closely with Atia, both as one of her lovers and as the henchman who carries out her dirty work. "As season two begins, Timon is still doing Atia's bidding, but he's beginning to have a crisis of conscience," observes Boardman. "His brother Levi arrives from Jerusalem and encourages him to clean up his act and embrace the Jewish faith again."
Boardman notes that the immediate spark for his transformation comes when he must execute a particularly distasteful chore for Atia. "He's working as a professional torturer, essentially, and there is a moment when he realizes he can no longer do this for a living. That's where the turnaround begins. He realizes that it was wrong and that Atia looked on him as scum who was simply there to do a job. At one point he grabs Atia and says, 'I'm not an animal!' He's disgusted by himself and by her. That's the turning point for him."
Adds Boardman, "Timon's real name is Tevye, but in season one he tried to assimilate and Romanize himself, which horrified his brother. It's a rocky road for him to go back to that world, but eventually Timon is happy to return to his Jewish heritage. Instead of being embarrassed by it, he embraces it fully and gains a sense of comfort."
HBO's Emmy®-winning epic drama series ROME kicks off its ten-episode second season SUNDAY, JAN. 14 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
