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Lucy Lawless has made it no secret she loves comedies.

The "Spartacus: Vengeance" star, who frequently appears on "The Soup" and guest starred on Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," revealed to The Huffington Post that she was very close to sparking fear in the heart of Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) on "Parks and Recreation." No, not as Xena, the role that made Lawless a star; but as one of Swanson's ex-wives.

I've read in the past that you love comedies. Is there a comedy you'd like to guest star on?
Oh, I love "Parks and Rec."

It's amazing.
Love that show. Love anything to do with Larry David.

Right, you did "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
Yeah, I've done that, but you can just never get enough of that guy. He's so unusual and so -- I find him really charming.

Do you have a "Parks and Rec" character already created in your head?
Well, they did come to me about playing one of the ex-wives of --

Really!? Tammy!
Yeah, and I couldn't because I was doing "Spartacus." I would have loved to have done that, but I had a very good excuse not to. [Laughs.]

As great as Patricia Clarkson was as Tammy 1, can you imagine Lawless going toe-to-toe with Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope? The Tammy ship may have sailed, but let's hope Mike Schur and the "Parks and Recreation" crew find a way to get Lawless to Pawnee.

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The continuation of Spartacus on Starz is inherently bittersweet because of the loss of Andy Whitfield, but Lucy Lawless can keep things light. When Starz presented the new "Spartacus: Vengeance" to the Television Critics Association, Lawless took questions about her Honey Badger segments. I followed up with Lawless about the new and crazier Lucretia in the current season.

Crave Online: Lucretia looks crazy. Is she a little crazy this year?

Lucy Lawless: Well, you would be crazy, wouldn't you? Your unborn child has been unceremoniously stabbed within yourself. You've lost your husband, you've lost everything, so she may or may not be crazy. I'm going to let you decide.

Crave Online: Do you get to play that the whole year?

Lucy Lawless: No, because that would be very tiresome very quickly. Somebody's crazy, that’s interesting for about three seconds, but you quickly want to get back to the characters you know and love. That took a bit of doing actually, figuring that out. I found that extremely challenging.

Crave Online: Are they making Lucretia pick up some weapons and get her hands dirty?

Lucy Lawless: No, but I am on the receiving end of some very bad treatment this season.

Crave Online: We love how outrageous the show can be.

Lucy Lawless: Yeah, continues to be completely outrageous, I promise you. Again, they even manage to shock me.

Crave Online: Do you find yourself topping yourself and the things you've done earlier?

Lucy Lawless: Yes, I did, and very recently too. Before I came over here, I went through something that was down such a dark tunnel. It was a bad experience and I was so proud of it, and I hope that it comes out on screen as good as it felt terrible to make.

Crave Online: Which episode is that in? We’ll look for it.

Lucy Lawless: Six.

Crave Online: Is Honey Badger more famous than Xena now?

Lucy Lawless: [Laughs] I don't know. It's a threat. It's a serious threat.

Crave Online: Xena is on Netflix now. Do you hear from new viewers and fans who are seeing it that way for the first time?

Lucy Lawless: I don't hear anything. I'm analog but it stresses me out. I don't Twitter or anything because to try to promote a virtual self is so stressful to me, therefore I'm not going to do it. I'd rather go and make Honey Badger and be a dork and laugh my ass off. That's the real me.

Crave Online: If this is the last season for Lucretia, what kind of character would you like to play next?

Lucy Lawless: I continue to want to play morally imperiled characters, people that you guys think are bad. You know what? I'd love to play a victim. I love to play the vulnerability and that's what I love about Lucretia, is her vulnerability.

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She Magazine interviews Lucy for its 13th anniversary issue.

You can read it online here

Does she have her own private wi-fi connection to the gods? Tonight's episode of Spartacus: Vengeance finds Lucy Lawless' character, Lucretia, being treated like a superstar by the citizens of Capua. They believe she's divinely blessed — how else to explain her narrow escape from death during the bloody slave revolt? — and that she can tap into the wisdom of Mount Olympus. It sure seems that way. Before long, Lucretia starts spouting prophecy.

"She's no Tim Tebow," says Lawless. "Lucretia does not believe the gods are sticking their fingers in her personal business, but she is a widow with no means of support who is surrounded by enemies and desperate for survival. So she works it." And eventually that'll pay off — big time. "By the end of the season, Lucretia will get a new man," Lawless reveals. "In fact, after much tribulation, all her dreams will come true. All of them."

Lawless is also doing well in the dream department. Spartacus, shot in her homeland of New Zealand, has finally brought her serious acclaim as an actress, plus another juicy gig — she's joining the killer cast (Holly Hunter, Elisabeth Moss) of the BBC miniseries Top of the Lake, directed by Oscar winner Jane Campion. But it wasn't too long ago that Lawless was living in L.A. in a post-Xena funk. She and her best pal, Tony-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur, "would go to the shopping mall and sit in the vibrating chairs at the Brookstone store, stuffing ourselves with muffins and crying about our s---ty careers," recalls Lawless with a laugh. "I had to move back home to become successful again!"

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What a different vision these two stars of "Spartacus: Vengeance" offer in person.

Here is Lucy Lawless: In her Starz adventure-action series, she builds on worldwide fame as Xena, Warrior Princess, by playing wily Lucretia, widow of the Roman sports impresario. Her "ludus," an extreme training camp for gladiators, was where Spartacus had been enslaved. Transported from first century B.C. Capua to modern-day Manhattan, Lawless, 43 — in bright sweater and snug jeans — is pretty, girlish and full of laughs.

Alongside her for this recent interview is Liam McIntyre, who this season is taking over the role of Spartacus. Unlike the raging Thracian out to forge an army and topple the Roman Empire, McIntyre is chipper, affable and ready with wisecracks.

The first season concluded two years ago in a brutal rebellion led by Spartacus at the ludus. Roman blood flowed and his masters' bodies dropped. Among the many victims were seemingly Lucretia.

Now the saga picks up just a few weeks later with the gladiators having made their escape and Spartacus plotting widespread payback to their oppressors. And Lucretia makes her shocking return. "She's lost everything," says Lawless. "She's lost her husband, her baby, her lover, the house, her status — and her marbles."

"Spartacus: Vengeance" retains a potent mix of hyper-realism and epic fantasy, with generous helpings of violence, nudity, sex and other visual pizzazz.

But real-life tragedy, too, is a part of the story. Andy Whitfield, who originated the role of Spartacus, announced in March 2010 that he was stricken with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. That May, a six-episode prequel concentrating on characters other than Spartacus was set for the following year, to give Whitfield time off for treatment. But a few months later when the cancer returned, he announced his departure from the show. Last September, he died at age 39.

"Being a fan of the show, I loved Andy's Spartacus so much," says McIntyre, now 29. "He wasn't just an action hero. In my auditions I tried to capture the heart that I felt in Spartacus due to Andy's great performance."

"The show needed someone who could not only carry the role that Andy had created," Lawless adds, "but also bring something of his own that was authentic."

But McIntyre was hardly Spartacus-brawny when he got to the set in New Zealand for his audition. "I'd never liked my body," he confides, "and my nightmare was to be filmed in underwear. I was no body builder. I was just this guy who liked sports and video games."

It took months of grueling training for McIntyre to bulk up to Spartacus proportions — "that kind of intense exercise is horrible," he cringes — and only then, finally, to clench the role. His selection to inherit Spartacus' leather Speedo was announced last January.

The ailing Whitfield supported McIntyre as the recasting choice, and offered to meet with his successor, "which I thought was amazingly big-hearted considering everything he was going through." Whitfield's failing health prevented their getting together, "but we exchanged emails," says McIntyre, "and I feel very blessed to have those."

The Australian-born McIntyre, who made his U.S. television debut two years ago in HBO's miniseries "The Pacific," became an actor in an unlikely way, while studying business in Ireland on a student-exchange program. A chum inveigled him to take a role in a school production, and after first resisting, he got the bug.

"One day during a performance it all clicked," says McIntyre. "And then, when 'Gladiator' came out, I wanted to be in a film like that more than anything. Now, here I am!"

When shooting on "Spartacus" began, McIntyre eased into the routine.

"Bringing Liam in was as easy a transition as it could be," says Lawless, who had weathered the series' uncertainty both as a principal player and as the wife of executive producer Rob Tapert. "Because of who Liam is, and because everybody else is so good at their jobs, it smoothed over the discombobulation that comes from having a star disappear from your roster."

But that doesn't mean Whitfield was forgotten, or he isn't missed as Spartacus fights on.

"This great journey that I get to go on now — there are times when I just get so sad 'cause it seems so unfair that someone who had this exact experience a couple of years ago isn't here to enjoy it now," says McIntyre, his eyes damp in a way you wouldn't associate with Spartacus. "It's a shame."

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SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE, which premieres tonight on Starz at 10 PM, is actually the second season of the SPARTACUS series, even though it’s the third year of the show. Series creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight understands how this might cause some head-scratching.

In 2010's SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND, Andy Whitfield starred as the famous historical figure. The season followed him through his early days of being enslaved, being trained as a gladiator and finally leading a revolt at the Ludus (gladiator training camp) that left its owner Batiatus (John Hannah) definitively dead and Batiatus' pregnant wife Lucretia, played by Lucy Lawless, probably mortally wounded but still twitching.

Sadly, while Season Two was being planned, Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Waiting for Whitfield to return to the show after he underwent treatment, the SPARTACUS company decided to do SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, a prequel season of six episodes, which ran in 2011, showing the earlier days of Lucretia and Batiatus and introducing Dustin Clare as Gannicus, a fighter who later figures into Spartacus' story.

Then Whitfield's remission ended and it became unhappily clear that his health would not allow him to return to the series. Whitfield passed away on September 11, 2011, but gave his blessing to his SPARTACUS colleagues to recast the role and continue making the show. SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE went forward with Liam McIntyre as Spartacus.

DeKnight understands how the fractured timeline can lead to mix-ups. "VENGEANCE is actually Season Two," he explains. "It confuses everybody."

Between them, DeKnight and Lawless have enough genre street cred to give rise to a two-person convention. Lawless in fact will be at a Creation Convention in Burbank this weekend honoring her indelible title character in XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS; she also played the Cylon D'Anna in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

DeKnight has been a writer, producer and director on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and SMALLVILLE. They tease each other often during a private interview during the Television Critics Association press tour at the Langham Hotel inPasadena.

DeKnight's fellow executive producer and Lawless' husband Robert Tapert is just around the corner, giving interviews of his own

ASSIGNMENT X: If you weren't going into Season Two, would you have liked to extend GODS OF THE ARENA?

STEVE DeKNIGHT: When I first suggested the idea of the prequel, I suggested a two-hour movie to keep the show alive, but it really didn't help anybody, and then Rob suggested four hours, and that didn't quite work with the writing, it wasn't long enough for a convoluted story, and it was too long for a nice short story, and then Starz wanted to do six episodes, and that was just right. I think any longer, GODS OF THE ARENA wouldn't have worked, and any shorter, it wouldn't have worked.

AX: In SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, you had the bookend sequences that began and ended with the events at the end of Season One, so when does VENGEANCE, Season Two, start in terms of the story?

DeKNIGHT: Somewhere six to eight weeks after the breakout in Season One.

AX: Is that enough time for Lucretia to have recovered from being nearly killed, or is she still recovering?

LUCY LAWLESS: Evidently she is not fully recovered. We find her when she's in quite a state. I loved [acting] it, but I got a little bit lost inside myself [laughs], so it was an uncomfortable two weeks of actual madness.

DeKNIGHT: Rob must have loved that.

LAWLESS: Oh, he didn't notice.

[Both laugh.]

LAWLESS: I just had no reference, so I did way too much research that I don't know was particularly helpful, because I lost my bearings a little. I needed somebody else to take the reins at times – the director being the one to have the taste of how to play this thing. He reined me in.

AX: Now, because Lucretia didn't run off with Spartacus et al –

LAWLESS: I wasn't invited, okay?

AX: Can you tease at all how she's worked back into the story and how much of a challenge was it to work her back into the story?

DeKNIGHT: It worked really organically. Lucretia originally was supposed to die at the end of Season One. We loved the character so much that Starz asked, "Is there any way to bring her back?" And Rob called me up and said, "Starz would really like to bring Lucy back." I said, "So would I – but she has to die! There's no way to bring her back!" Rob said, "Okay." And that night, I had an idea and I called Rob the next morning: "I've got an idea of how to bring Lucy back that I think is really, really juicy." And it was really down to the wire. That's why we filmed it both ways at the end of Season One, one where she's twitching and one where she's clearly dead, because we weren't really sure at that time which way we were going to go. It was actually very natural. She basically never leaves the Ludus. That's where we find her when we come back and I don’t think it's giving a lot away that we re-use Batiatus' Ludus in a different way this season and she's part and parcel with the Ludus.

AX: How is Liam McIntyre different from the late Andy Whitfield in playing Spartacus?

DeKNIGHT: With Liam, we were looking for someone to fill those sandals. We weren't looking for an Andy clone, because quite frankly, nobody could replace Andy. He was such a singular talent. We were looking for somebody that had similar qualities. And what was great about Andy is that he had this quality of compassion that was really important for the character. When we were auditioning people, one of the things we told the casting directors is, "Spartacus may go into a mad rage and kill everybody, but it's not from a place of anger, it's from a place of a wounded heart," and that kind of pain and compassion is what we were looking for, and that's what Liam had in his auditions. And then there was a lot of talk about, should we write Spartacus specifically for Liam, should we change the way we’re writing him? And we decided, no, we'll write Spartacus as Spartacus, and Liam will bring his own [qualities].

LAWLESS: Liam has a leadership quality that I think is really important to Spartacus now that he's out on the road and he's got to bring all these disparate peoples together as an army. Liam is very outgoing in that way, so I think his strengths play really well to the requirements of the role.

AX: Besides recuperating from her injuries, how is Lucretia different than we've seen her before?

LAWLESS: She's a kinder, gentler Lucretia [laughs]. She wants everyone to love her, because they'd better, because something bad's going to happen if she doesn't find a friend, and quick. Fortunately,Olympia's around, and she should be an easy mark. [Lucretia] does find a little friend, somebody she's never paid much attention to before, and he falls in love with her. By the end of the season, all Lucretia's dreams will come true.

Click here for full interview

She became an icon on the campy but highly successful television series "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995-2001). At 43, Lucy Lawless remains fit for battle -- or, in the case of her current series, "Spartacus: Vengeance," nudity. Among the New Zealander's other assets is her voice. She once considered opera as a career path.

Although Lawless is heterosexual, married twice with three children, Xena's sexuality was always suspect. In the last episode, the Warrior Princess basically came out of the closet, which garnered Lawless a loyal lesbian following. Currently, she is playing Lucretia, a Roman woman who has lost everything and stops at nothing to regain her power and position.

"Spartacus: Vengeance" airs on the premium channel Starz at 10 p.m. EST Fridays. Nudity, violence and a lot more make it appropriate for mature audiences only.

Excerpts from an interview:

Q: Were you into science fiction or mythology as a child?

A: No -- zero. We did lots of acting, my friend Michelle and I. We were always adapting fairy tales and things and putting them on for the old folks. My mother ran the senior-citizens brigade or whatever it was called. So we would do that sort of thing all the time as play. I don't know how this happened to me.

Q: I also read you were interested in opera at one point, but decided against it because you didn't like the lifestyle.

A: Well, I thought I'd have to be a big fatty. No, no, really, the truth is that's not my gift to sing that way. So even though I love singing to this day, not opera but other things, acting just comes first.

Q: How comfortable are you doing the semi-nude and nude scenes?

A: Not at all, zero comfortable. Oh, God, it makes me sick.

Q: It doesn't get easier?

A: No, it doesn't. You'd think it would, but it doesn't. But you know what? You believe in the role, and you just soldier on through and be as professional as you can because the scenes are not about sex. I don't care what anyone says, it's not porn. There's a transaction of power going on. Somebody's getting screwed, and it's not about sex. (Laughs).

Q: So with that said, there has to be pressure to stay in shape.

A: Yes, I try, but (laughs) that's a mystery to me, that whole discipline thing. I do work out with a trainer, but I don't know. You can go 10 pounds up and maybe 3 pounds down but tend to stay in a certain zone.

Q: Is your character on "Spartacus" more challenging to play than Xena was?

A: Yeah, because Xena had a moral compass that we relate to. Lucretia doesn't. I think if you live in a society where subterfuge is the order of the day, then there is no morality. Everybody is stabbing one another in the back. It's stab or be stabbed, and she's survived a long time. She's got her work cut out for her this season because things get really nasty. She is going to have to be extremely vigilant and clever to survive.

Q: Does it enhance your acting if you know the arc the character will be taking a few episodes ahead?

A: I think it's really important to know. You don't telegraph that to the audience, but I think it's very important to know. I remember on "Xena" we would set up for something being a fact and true and all your acting would sort of cleave to that rule, and three episodes later you are doing something completely the opposite. (Laughs) It kind of makes a liar of you.

For instance, in the last episode when they almost explicitly came out and said that Xena was gay, I was cross with them. All these years, they could have told me that ahead of time that they were going to do that. I wouldn't have had to sort of obfuscate. In this case ("Spartacus"), it was extremely important. By the end of this season when you see the final episode, I guarantee you're going to say, "Oh my God, now I have to go back and watch it again from the beginning." It's like a feature film.

Q: With the sex scenes, do you find it easier to do them with a man or a woman, or does it matter?

A: I find it easier to do with a man. To me, a man feels like I expect they are going to feel (laughs) and a woman doesn't. (Laughs) Even fat dudes feel differently to me than a woman. (Laughs) Just when you touch the flesh, it's different. I guess that means I'm straight.

Q: You have fans in both camps.

A: I know. I love them. But I know all I need to know. (Laughs)

Q: What about the choreography? Is it as complex as a fight scene?

A: Oh, it's much more complex.

Q: What about your sons? Do you think about them seeing (the sex scenes) someday?

A: Oh, I do. I think about them a lot. One of them is a very sensitive person, and he knows academically that I have to do those scenes. It's part of a role. But he does not want to see it. He does not want to see any part of it.

The other one is like his dad. He's just a moviemaker. Even though he's younger than the other boy, he's much more able to cope with everything to do with acting. When he gets old enough to see it, I will be less worried about him.

My daughter works on the show. I think at 23 years old it still grosses her out. When those scenes are on, she turns her back or she's not on the set. She doesn't punish me at all for it. She's very professional.

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Spartacus kicks off again tonight with a new season, a new title (Spartacus: Vengeance) and a new leading man (Liam McIntyre, taking over for Andy Whitfield). But don’t worry, the show hasn’t changed too much. After all, there are still plenty of orgies, decapitations, and decapitations during orgies! In celebration of the Starz drama’s return this evening, McIntyre and costar Lucy Lawless stopped by the InsideTV Podcast, and wouldn’t you know it — all hell broke loose! In addition to discussing the ins and outs — no pun intended — of season 2 (which included McIntyre stabbing a man in the penis for his very first scene), the duo was grilled on a variety of topics. Such as: How does Lucy feel about losing the coveted Celebrity Duets title to Alfonso Ribeiro? And what kind of Super Bowl prediction is Patriots fan Liam ready to make while sitting here in the enemy territory of New York City? But we saved the best question for last: Who would win in a battle between Spartacus and Lucy’s iconic warrior princess, Xena? Not surprisingly, our two guests have very differing opinions on the matter.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Swords-and-sandals epic lovers arise and claim your show: "Spartacus: Vengeance" is slashing its way back onto the Starz network on Jan. 27 with a new season of battles, escapes, affairs and intrigue.

But there will be one major difference: Spartacus himself has been replaced. Fans of the show are familiar with the untimely death of character originator Andy Whitfield, who portrayed the rebellious slave in "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" in 2010 before being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

"It's a horrifying thing to get everything you ever wanted – a wife, two children, your big break – and after one year, a horrifying diagnosis," Lucy Lawless, who stars as Lucretia, told TODAY.com. "We thought he'd go into treatment, we'd execute a prequel and he'd come back. But that never happened."

Well, the prequel, "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" did happen, but Whitfield did not return. Enter Liam McIntyre, an Australian actor who some may have spotted in HBO’s "The Pacific," but who is mostly unknown.

"(Whitfield) wanted the show to continue," Lawless said. "He requested that they replace him quite early on, and even rang Liam to encourage him and congratulate him. He was a big man, and we remember him fondly for that. The tragedy was really his family's, and our loss is nothing compared to his."

McIntyre slips easily into the role, but he's more than just a new face, said Lawless. "He's a great morale leader on the set, which is what you need when you're leading 100 dudes in their underpants around without much to do for long periods at a stretch. They can get a bit ... distracted. They're totally nice, but you need someone to help focus on the work, and Liam has that kind of charisma."

Click here for full interview

TV Tango: What was it like filming that last, bloody scene in BLOOD AND SAND?

Lucy Lawless: Sticky, all wet.A hard floor. The tiles on that floor -- I don't know what the hell they were made out of, but they were sharp. They did put down a rubber version of them for a tiny bit.It was fine, but it was sticky. Arrrr...so gross! I hate it when they pour sticky blood all down your dress, and your legs are sticking together in the most unpleasant way -- sort of caramelizing.

TV Tango: They filmed two endings for BLOOD AND SAND. When did you know that your character, Lucretia, was going to live?

Lucy Lawless: After. After we shot it.I think even though I didn't know -- and I would've been fine either way -- I think I had a sense that Lucretia would be back. I didn't panic about it, and I think that's why I don't remember. I don't remember it upsetting me; I just had a calm awareness.

TV Tango: The finale of BLOOD AND SAND was not what Lucretia imagined or wanted. What would the ending have been if it was up to her? What was she going after?

Lucy Lawless: The whole kit and kaboodle -- the husband, the baby, and status for the first time in her life. I don't think she came from status; she's one of the aspirant, hard-working, lower-middle-class girls. Her husband was her true love. Who knows what would have happened down the line, but that was her man -- beyond the need to have the male support in Roman society at that time and the status that came with that man. Aside from all of that, I think she loved him. He was a megalomaniac. She did whatever he told her to do -- she didn't want to throw those sex parties.

Click here for full interview

From Gamerlive.tv:

Liam McIntrye, Viva Bianca, and Lucy Lawless discuss the physical - and emotional challenges of filming.

Note: This article contains material appropriate to the mature rating of the series and contains small spoilers from the season premiere.

It's no surprise that Spartacus: Vengeance has done as well as it has. The STARZ show has drawn in an immense (and diverse) crowd. Packed with gore, nudity, sex, and a surprising dose of humanity, the show has done well for itself and has already been renewed for a third season. Writer Steven DeKnight continues to impress with his scripts, as testament to the first episode of season 2. The episode boasted plenty of gore (opening with an impressive sword fight) and holding true to it's "M for Mature" rating. DeKnight did his research, describing in a live web interview recently that he prides the show on being as realistic as possible for the setting. Viewers are taken on a whirlwind ride during every episode, but with all that violence and sex, one has to wonder how the cast feels filming some of these scenes. Liam McIntyre (Spartacus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), and Viva Bianca (Illithyia) shared their personal experiences on set – and their answers may surprise you.

Spartacus goes through it’s fare share of blood and guts, but actress Lucy Lawless shared it was never nearly as scary filming them as seeing them on screen, as most of the final effects are done post-production. “It’s brilliant,” she commented about the editing. But just because the blood and intestines are fake doesn’t make filming violent scenes is any easier. The attack on the brothel (or "gentleman's money making facility", as McIntyre put it) mid-way through the season premiere proved to be an emotional challenge to shoot. "It was one of the most harrowing moments in my life," revealed Liam McIntyre - who was actually shooting the scene on one of his first days on set. He described it was difficult realizing that all that stood between himself and ‘death’ is a small piece of steel. "I remember thinking - Oh god, what have I got myself into?'"

And it’s not just the blood and guts that sometimes gets to the cast. At innumerable points in the series, the cast members have found themselves naked on set and doing things they never expected. "I've done things again this season that I've never ever done before and never seen on television before," said Lawless. "It was heavy duty." She admitted that after a day of filming sex scenes, she wanted nothing more than to go home, have a "quiet little melt-down," and just sleep. Viva Bianca agreed. "They're far from a turn-on," she said. In fact, many were draining and emotionally exhaustive. The gravity of what some of the scenes entail (DeKnight certainly did his research) often takes its toll on the actors. “Sometimes I do need a hug,” said Lawless, “because it’s harrowing. It’s really harrowing”. The cast may have signed up for the roles, but according to McIntyre, they never get used to sex scenes. As Australians, Lawless revealed that "its very hard for us to be comfortable with nudity and sex scenes. I've tried...I want to be cooler about it, but I'm just not".

What makes Spartacus a truly superb show is how vividly the characters are portrayed on screen. As actors, the cast delve into the heads of their individual characters to really understand whythey do what they do. But even they admit to being surprised sometimes. Viva Bianca described many of the scenes with Illithyia this season as excruciatingly brutal. After filming a particurally vicious scene in episode four, Bianca remembers approaching the director saying, "I can't believe Illithyia just did that." Spartacus speaks heavily about the exploitation of slaves and woman during the time period, and as such, Lawless and Bianca had to truly explore the upper class mentality of Roman women. "The truth for these Roman aristocratic people," said Bianca, "is that they didn't consider slaves, or people of that class, as people. For Lucy [Lawless] and I to get ourselves in that mentality is quite an extreme step. It can be quite horrific - and as an actor to carry the reality of what human is doing to another - it can weigh heavy on us".

But despite the difficulties and challenges associated with filming the season, the cast gushed about how much they love filming a show so drastically unlike modern times. "It's like having a second life!" said Lawless, "and I just love it". In fact, Lawless admits the challenge is what makes acting on the show so spectacular, "I've had a really crazy ride as Lucretia this season and I'm really grateful". Bianca echoed her thoughts, saying that it's the real joy of filming comes from being able to enter an entirely new world and reality. "We love going into fantasy make-believe worlds and playing. I think that's a lot of what makes actors, actors".

Source

The king of the arena returns to challenge the might of the Roman army in the epic second series, Spartacus – Vengeance.

A brand new face in the form of Liam McIntyre replaces Andy Whitfield, who sadly lost his battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year, but has Liam got the chops to prove himself as the legendary hero who raged against Rome? Sky Guide meets Liam and co-star Lucy Lawless, to find out more.

'Obviously, Andy Whitfield left an indelible mark on all of us in the Spartacus family,' says Lucy. 'He was a gentle man who never said a bad word about anyone, and a brilliant actor. Andy's presence made men want to be him and women want to marry him. How lucky we were to have him grace all our lives.'

McIntyre, who starred in HBO's The Pacific and Neighbours, is up for the challenge. 'I have to live up to Andy's legacy. I was a fan of the show beforehand and if he hadn’t done such a great job, none of us would be here.' Legacy is the right word. First series Spartacus – Blood And Sand quickly gained a cult following, enticing audiences with its action, political machinations and saucy sex scenes in debauched Rome.

In the thrilling finale we watched as Spartacus, a Thracian slave thrown into the life of a gladiator, rose up against owners Batiatus [John Hannah] and Lucretia [Lucy Lawless]. Now Batiatus is dead, and Spartacus has escaped with his fellow slaves. What next? According to Liam, 'Spartacus has to face the might of the republic.' Lucy Lawless tells us more…

Can you describe the show?

At first glance, it is full of sex and violence. So if that's a turn off to you, please do not tune into the show. If you can handle it, it's a rollicking good ride. People would often question if it is soft porn, and I’d say no it's hardcore drama. It's very intelligently written and we are very proud of it.

Blood And Sand concluded with you wounded, Batiatus dead, and the gladiators on the run… What happens next?

Well I live! Spartacus has busted out with his rotten mates. My husband [Robert G.Tapert] produces it. We find it best if I don’t know anything too far in advance, otherwise you spend all your time in angst over something that may or may not happen. Initially I was meant to die too and then they figured out they get press out of me, so they resurrected my character, which I'm thrilled about [laughs].

Do you think there will be just as much sex this time around?

Probably! But when you think, 'sweet! I'm going to be naked 24/7' – nobody is really naked. They've got these hand-knotted little merkins, everybody has got one. So you feel like you are wearing underwear, and I've never actually been naked myself. The suggestion on the sets are far greater than what's being filmed. It's the way you frame things. If you see my ankles over somebody else's you are going to make assumptions about what's going on between you. It's quite clever and funny.

How would you describe Lucretia?

The ultimate survivor! Loved her husband, did anything for him even to a point of having sex with another man to produce an heir.

Do you think that she's a bit like Lady Macbeth?

That was the immediate attraction for me to play her. I didn't want her to be melodramatic and two dimensional, so I tried to make her somebody where you can kind of see her point. She does terrible things but I'm totally interested in them, rather than just writing her like she’s Joan Collins.

How do you feel about the costumes, especially the bright red hair?

I love all that, it really kicks you into a whole other dimension. It helps me with the character. I really never think about the character until the costume is on, then something just pops out of me.

Is it hard to take a back seat having been the main character of a TV series for so long on Xena: Warrior Princess, or do you just love your role?

Yeah, I do, I love the new character and I wouldn't trade it. You have to be humble, you have to take your place and I think that is part of life too. I feel it's all part of it, although when you see Judi Dench doing astonishing work, you think, 'hey, the best could be yet to come!'

Why do you think people love the Roman era?

It's purely voyeuristic, because you can see people behaving badly and doing all the things that we are highly curious about, even if we don't want to do it ourselves. For example, a husband and wife can be having a chat and a slave goes to him and the conversation continues without missing a beat. It means nothing to them that the slave is sexually servicing the husband. It blows the audience's mind, because they've never seen that before, and then you quickly realise that you aren't in Kansas, you're not in London…

So did this all really happen?

Evidently we are bending history a bit because we don't know a lot about these characters, but they are real names quite often. The customs and the costumes are all well researched and the pretty weird stuff you see wouldn’t happen unless we knew it was well documented. We have a couple of historians who are on tap all the time.

What do you miss about home when you are away?

I don't have the missing gene, the gene to miss things, I'm like a goldfish. After five minutes wherever I am, it's like my new favourite place. But I miss my children and my husband of course! Sometimes you just need a cuddle and sometimes you go through Frankfurt airport and they pat you down and you say, 'this is better than sex!' Instead of intimacy I would take a rub down at the airport! Sometimes I stash paper clips down my pockets just to trick them!

You are still in incredible shape. How do you do that?

I am working on it. I'm in my forties now. I do weight training, which funnily enough is better at burning fat, and I cut sugar out for a while, but then I'm back on it again. Weight training is my little secret. It's really good for you. In New Zealand they're not into the craziness of dieting and exercise. If I can be better at 43 than when I was at 23 that’s awesome! By the time I am 50, forget it I'm not doing anything, I'm going to turn into one of those French women who sit on the beach with their bosom sagging, eating a croissant, having a fag and loving it!

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