It’s not easy to keep a revolution going as Spartacus and his band of former gladiators, slaves and misfits have been finding out in the final season of Starz’s exiting series, “Spartacus: War of the Damned.”
Not only are their legions of people hungry and looking to their leaders to provide food and safety from the Roman forces, but our little gang at the top is getting weary, restless, and with seeds of uncertainty cropping up, they are far from putting on a united front.
It’s a challenge in this week’s episode — especially for Dan Feuerriegel’s Agron, who finds himself having to become more of a political player than ever, balancing his loyalties to Liam McIntyre’s Spartacus, and attempting to pacify an increasingly frustrated Gaul – Manu Bennett’s Crixus.
The Australian actor, who recently relocated to Los Angeles, told AccessHollywood.com that Friday’s episode, kicking off at 9 PM on Starz, will be a game changer for the drama in its march toward its series finale. Dan also helped us get a little more insight on what’s going on with fan favorite couple in trouble – Agron and Nasir – known affectionately by the fans as “Nagron.”
AccessHollywood.com: This week’s episode feels like it’s going to be old school ‘Spartacus,’ where you’ve got Agron and Crixus at it again! And they were getting along so well-ish (for them).
Dan Feuerriegel: I don’t like Crixus because he’s a Gaul. He was against my brother in the first season, and so it’s kind of just simmered and brewed from there. However, now, we’ve learned to live together, so to speak. Agron’s loyalty is always toward Spartacus. But, [in this week’s episode] Agron’s loyalty is genuinely torn between Crixus and Spartacus [over what they] both believe in. Crixus wants to kill all Romans, Spartacus wants to be the bigger, better man, and Agron — he doesn’t know which way to go, but he will ultimately lean toward Spartacus. So they are at it again, because Crixus sees that, he’s questions it, he attacks it…
WATCH: Dan Feuerriegel’s ‘Spartacus: War Of The Damned’ Premiere
Access: Crixus is starting to get more out of control… He’s fighting with everyone (Click HERE to see a preview). You said he can see both sides, but could Agron also be happy about that if it keeps Agron in Spartacus’ favor – because there’s always a competition between the two of them — for daddy’s (Spartacus’) attention.
Dan: Well, absolutely… Agron does have a desire to be a leader and you can see that in a few episodes here, a few episodes there, where Spartacus announces, ‘Lead when I’m not here.’ ‘Crixus is going to take over when I die.’ So there is that kind of ‘Awww!’ and ‘Err!’ ‘I thought I was your No. 1!’ and all that stuff. Crixus… regardless of who he follows or doesn’t follow, he’s out for himself. ‘This is what I believe and I’m going to follow [it].’ [With] Agron, there is that loyalty to Spartacus. So even if he might not agree with it, he will go for it. In the preview for [Friday] night’s episode, he even says, ‘I will follow you everywhere on the field of battle.’… This is where the season definitely starts to get a lot deeper because everybody’s true desires start to come to the surface, which is really cool.
WATCH: Manu Bennett: Fans ‘Won’t Be Disappointed’ By ‘Spartacus: War Of The Damned’
Access: Let’s talk about Nasir, because in Episode 3, he was a little flirt with the pirate who came to town. Do we think he’s maybe settled into a rut with his relationship with Agron, or, because they live on the edge all the time he just wants to feel alive? Or maybe he just made a mistake?
Dan: You know what? It could be a combination of everything… I do know that it probably would be less in regards to being bored because there’s always something happening… But, in that particular scene, alcohol was involved. We do things that we regret when we’re drunk, however, I guess any character would probably not shy away from getting the attention of another good looking character. I do believe just from what I’ve seen so far, there probably is a little bit of something there and that is probably a big reason why Agron does get so jealous, Plus, he’s very protective…
Access: And he’s loyal.
Dan: Yeah, absolutely… and [it’s] probably a similar situation to his brother back in the first series. So yeah, there’s a number of factors, and more and more will pop up as the numbers come along. The Nagron fans are going to be in for a treat whether they like it or not.
WATCH: Todd Lasance On Playing A ‘Rogue’ Julius Caesar In ‘Spartacus: War Of The Damned’
Access: They must have a rocky road from here on out – Agron and Nasir.
Dan: [Creator] Steven S. DeKnight indicated this at the very beginning, before we even started shooting the third season – the honeymoon period is over. Take that as you will, but they have planted the seeds, Nasir has planted the seeds, Castus has planted the seeds, so things do develop and as I said, Nagron fans, get prepared for a bit of a wild, bumpy ride.
Access: [Can we talk about how dirty everyone is on the show?] I know on ‘The Walking Dead,’ they call it ‘sexy dirt’ — that’s their nickname for the grime they put on. Did you guys a have a nickname for that stuff?
Dan: No, we didn’t have a nickname, but now that I think about it, we had a lot of ‘sexy dirt’! We had a lot of fake tan. We had a fantastic diet as well to be able to maintain good physical fitness compared to [on the show] where we’re only eating grain (laughs). So yeah, I’ve never really thought of it, but I do know that the makeup girls on the show – the dirtier you looked, the sexier it looked on film. You’ll notice that we all start to get darker and dirtier. I guess it just makes you more defined and fitter and more masculine, which is what they want.
Access: I’m super pale, so maybe I’ll have to try the ‘fitter’ thing with spray tan.
Dan: So am I (laughs). Remember, it’s all fake on the screen.
Access: Yes, and you do have freckles, which usually comes with those pale complexions. Are you prone to sunburns instead of tans?
Dan: Not really. On my mother’s side I’m English, so that’s where the freckles come from. On my father’s side I’m German, and he has the fantastic olive hues… I was given mum’s skin whereas my brothers and sisters were given my dad’s skin. I do tan up quite well, but it takes me a bit longer.
WATCH: Liam McIntyre On The Final Season Of ‘Spartacus’
Access: You have some crazy dedicated fans – called ‘Furys.’ What is that like to have such a dedicated fan group?
Dan: It’s a lot of fun. I find it a giant compliment to what I’ve been doing. Any actor likes a bit of validation that what they’re doing is actually creating an impact and that’s the biggest compliment that I can get… I’m glad that something that I’m doing is actually doing something good rather than just being on the screen with people watching it.
Access: Do you go on Tumblr and peek at what is on there?
Dan: I do. Of course I do. There is that, I guess that narcissistic kind of desire to go, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ And regardless of it being positive or negative, as much as I enjoy it, I do take it with a grain of salt, because things can change just like that… And so I will enjoy the ride while it lasts, but also, I will be as respectful as I can to everybody who has enough time to be respectful towards me and to talk to me and to say nice things about that to me, so I will give them as much as I can back.
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Access: Now that you’re in the U.S. – and while ‘Spartacus’ is airing on television – is the experience of it all different to when you were back home?
Dan: Very different. Back in Australia and New Zealand, I had no idea of the size of the show. Honestly. I had no idea… And then I came over here. I don’t get recognized. I’ve probably been recognized twice. That doesn’t bother me at all, but seeing it on billboards and buses and things? That is one hell of a trip… and it’s very cool because as every actor knows, sometimes it can be a horrible, horrible ride in regards to getting what you want… But I do know that even though it’s all fine and good right now in regards to ‘Spartacus,’ I have to move on to the next stage, and so that’s where my head is at right now. But it’s cool. It’s enjoyable to have that kind of cool thing up on the billboards.
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Access: Do you send little photos home then to your brothers?
Dan: Not so much my brothers and my sister, but definitely my mum. My mum is like my biggest fan and she’s the one who will basically do all the publicity for me back home… She’ll constantly be talking to me saying, ‘Dan, what’s going on? We’ve heard this. Tell us about it! Dad wants to know!’ And so I’ll give them as much information as I can, and mom and dad are both my biggest fans. I love them to bits and just the amount of help they’ve given me through the tough times has been amazing so it’s — I dare say that is probably the biggest thrill – is to see how proud they are.
“Spartacus: War of the Damned” airs Fridays at 9 PM on Starz.
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