The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff talks
Those About to Die
with Roland Emmerich and stars Iwan Rheon, Jojo Macari, Sara Martins, Moe Hashim, Dimitri Leonidas, and Gabriella Pession at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
During the chat, the cast revisits their character’s most game-changing moments from Season 1.
Emmerich also offers some insight into the Season 2 renewal process, and what they’d hope to accomplish with a Season 2 storyline.

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 1 finale of THOSE ABOUT TO DIE.]Those About to Die, the new Peacock series, follows an alternate side of Ancient Rome: the dirty business of entertaining the masses and providing the mob with blood and sport. Inspired by the book of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix, the 10-episode series was created by Robert Rodat of Saving Private Ryan fame and produced and directed by disaster movie specialist Roland Emmerich. Those About to Die is a classic swords & sandals epic with some serious character-driven drama. To celebrate Season 1 launching on the streamer, Emmerich and the cast headed to San Diego Comic-Con where they stopped by our media studio to talk Season 1 spoilers.

The first season concludes with Domitian (Jojo Macari) installed as the new emperor with some help from Tenax (Iwan Rheon), as well as the grand opening of the legendary Flavian Amphitheater. There are still plenty of storylines and character arcs left for growth for a potential Season 2.

In this interview, Emmerich, Rheon, Sara Martins, Macari, Moe Hashim, Dimitri Leonidas, and Gabriella Pession sit down with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff to talk about ambitious stunts, getting into top physical shape, the excitement of working with Anthony Hopkins, and loads more. You can read the full conversation in the transcript below.

PERRI NEMIROFF: Roland, going into filming, which scene did you think would be the toughest to shoot, and ultimately, was it or did a different one catch you by surprise?

ROLAND EMMERICH: No, it was always the the chariot races because we had to use different techniques, and they all had to blend together, and we talked a lot about it. So, that was really difficult.

Is there a particular scene you’re most proud of?

EMMERICH: I think we did some cool wide shots because that’s, for me, always the biggest problem—to make them look real. That was the main difficulty.

The Cast of ‘Those About to Die’ Discuss Riding Chariots and Getting Into Top Physical Shape
Image via Peacock

Dimitri, I’m coming your way now because he just brought up the chariot races. What is one “do” and one “do not” you would give to another actor about to play a chariot driver for the first time?

DIMITRI LEONIDAS: Wow! Do listen to the stunt guys because when things go wrong, and they often do, you’re gonna rely on what you learned in the process of training, and every bit of advice is useful. The “do not” is if something goes wrong, don’t jump off the chariot, which I didn’t do, by the way, but it’s often an impulse that people have, and then no one can stop the horses. Listen to your teachers, and you’ll keep yourself and the horses safe.

Very smart advice right there. He does not stay on the horses until the bitter end, sadly. If Scorpius got last words, what do you think he would say with them?

LEONIDAS: “Where is my wine?”

IWAN RHEON: Or just “Scorpius,” surely! “I am Scorpius,” as he ascends to Mount Olympus.

Image via Comic-Con

Definitely talking about himself as the final words.

LEONIDAS: Whatever it is, it’s in third person.

Moe, let’s talk a little bit about your stunts now. When you’re doing fight scenes, the coolest thing is kicking the shit out of other people, but one of the most impressive parts to me is being able to take a punch or a sword to the skin and make it look believable. What was it like selling all of that and selling it so well?

MOE HASHIM: Selling it was very easy because if you saw who I was fighting against [laughs], there was no selling there. I had to remind Martin that we are actors and we are pretending. We’ve rehearsed this many times. There’s no need for new moves. [Laughs] Props to the stunt team—they trained us very well. We were in Rome months ahead of filming. Everything you see on the screen—it’s from them.

The Cast of ‘Those About to Die’ Talks About Filming the Most Emotional Moments of Season 1

Here’s my big spoiler question for you, Moe. Throughout the show, it feels like Kwame has a better moral compass than most. But, in the end, he insists that he wants to make Romans suffer. How far do you think he’ll go to make that happen? Given what’s happened to him and his loved ones, is there no line drawn anymore? He’ll do anything?

HASHIM: He’ll do anything, but the line is drawn when his mother gets involved because if she says “no,” then it’s a “no.” [Laughs] At this point, for Kwame, there is no line drawn, and I feel like his mom now understands that, and she’s kind of with him on that. Until he gets to that guy, he’ll keep on going.

That teed up my question for you, Jojo. The scene near the end when Domitian is waiting to see Viggo’s fate, there are a couple of cuts to you where you’re in tears, and I found that to be such an interesting choice. Can you tell me a little bit about what inspired that emotion in that moment?

JOJO MACARI: I think he’s, for want of a better term, at the end of his tether, frankly. He’s had a pretty hard day. He’s had a hard couple of weeks, old Domitian, by that point. [Laughs] Big sighs all around! Everyone’s really sad about that. I think he’s just realizing that this is it. This is the closing move—all of his plans, which were so thought out. He’s been dreaming of this, sitting in his room thinking how he’s gonna get to the throne because he always thinks he’s doing the best thing. He’s just trying to do the nice thing, man—he’s a lovely guy! In his head he is, anyway. I think he’s just very disappointed and frustrated, and he realizes it’s the end. Everything’s gone wrong. It’s the schoolboy crying because he didn’t get his way. That’s how I always thought of it.

Very effective choice.

In the end, he does get what he wants. He becomes emperor. Even with all of that power, what do you think he fears his greatest weakness is in that role? Is there anything that scares about it?

MACARI: He’s got no weaknesses! Totally! He’s perfect as is! [Laughs] If he had a problem, it would be falling in love too fast and too easy! [Laughs] I genuinely think his issue will be that he’s gonna go a bit mad. He’s gonna think he’s a god. I assume maybe that’ll be his undoing.

Iwan, Tenax obviously gets a lot out of that situation. What do you think he is most excited to gain from Domitian being emperor? But also, what do you think is the thing he fears the most about Domitian being in power?

IWAN RHEON: Well, it’s creating a monster, isn’t it? By enabling someone who has a limitless power, what are you? What are the limits? What [Tenax] wanted was power, and in order to get there, he was willing to do anything, and that’s basically backing the mission. But by backing him, then what is going to happen next? Can he control this guy? Tenax controls people. That’s what he does. He’s a very good manipulator, but is this too big a bite?

Image via Peacock

A question about his relationship with Cala now. I could infer this based on what happens in the season, but I feel like it means something different coming straight from you. Why does she terrify him?

RHEON: Very good question. I think for the first time in his life, he’s allowed himself to become vulnerable in front of someone else, which he doesn’t do. Even Scorpius is a friend, but it’s like he’s like a manager, isn’t it? He’s not exactly completely normal and then, all of a sudden, he’s become vulnerable with someone for the first time, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that. Then, she brings the best out in him. If you’re trying to run the streets, you can’t be vulnerable. You can’t show fear. You can’t show weakness. So all of a sudden, this woman is making him be honest and vulnerable, and it’s very frightening.

Sara, he just mentioned that she brings the best out of him. What is something she gains from him throughout the season? Perhaps something that could serve her well in Season 2?

SARA MARTINS: She didn’t expect someone like Tenax in her life. She was just driven by saving her children, and obviously he is the best one to help her do that because he knows the city so well. He knows from the top to the sewer. Because she’s not driven by power—no money, no fame, no nothing—there’s no leverage on her that Tenax uses to manipulate people. She sees through him. They need each other, really. She needs him to save her children, and then he realizes he needs her. In the process, she wants him not to be a better man, just to know that showing what he has best is also a powerful thing.

What is on the Horizon for Season 2 of ‘Those About to Die?’
Image via Peacock

For anyone who plays a surviving character — I’m sorry, Dimitri [laughs] — in Season 2, which other character in the show do you think yours would have the most to gain from if they spent more time together?

GABRIELLA PESSION: I was hoping you’d go there!

MARTINS: I didn’t expect that while I was reading the script, but seeing the show and the performance of Gabriella, I thought, “I relate to that.” She’s not just that woman who seeks power. She is a strong woman who has to maneuver in this man’s world, and she’s a mother too. At the end, we have that scene, and I think the two of them can share something. At the end, they have the same enemy. They just want those brutal games to end.

PESSION: I agree with Sara. I adored your performance. I was in awe of how she played this role because of her strength and courage. Antonia seems to be her opposite, in a way, because there’s no compassion in her, but actually, the reason why these women are like this is also for different reasons, but they need to survive a very male-driven society back then. They come from different classes, and they have different upbringings, but ultimately, deep down, they want to survive, and they want the best for their kids.

She’s a bit wicked, and I like when I work on a character like this. I always think it’s nice to see why a person can be so rotten, and why they can be so mean. I have my own thing about Antonia that’s completely not on the screen—it’s all my own paranoia. I think she ultimately comes from a broken childhood, as well. She’s been scarred, and, like Tenax was saying, if you need to survive, you can’t be vulnerable. I think with her, I would like these two women to have some sort of mirroring in a different way. I think that that would be very powerful.

MARTINS: There are other fights other than those in the arena, and we women are doing them.

RHEON: I think my answer is very clear! [Laughs] I’m excited for our [nods at Jojo] ongoing relationship …?

That on-screen relationship is not problematic at all!

HASHIM: I think maybe from Tenax. I think there’s something there. He does actually look after me in real life, too. I think there could definitely be an interesting story there, but how that would be put together will be up to you.

I’m here for it all.

Gabriella, I did have a specific question for you, too. In the end, she is incredibly upset with what she’s seen, and she says that she’s had enough of the death and the killing. Do you think that’s going to inspire her to act and do what she can politically to stop it or is it more, “I’m going to take a step back and not be involved in this anymore?”

PESSION: No, I think it’s the first one. She’s a front-runner, but this is really not up to me. It’s up to the people who are writing, and Roland. But we talked about it a little bit. Taking what we’ve seen about Antonia in the first season, I don’t think she’s the typical personality who will step back and leave it. She would probably would be wiser in a way because that’s been bad enough for her, but I like to think that she’s probably trying to survive in this man’s world. I have ideas that I don’t want to spoil, obviously. To be honest with you, I think she’ll be proactive. I don’t think she’ll leave it the way it is.

Do you think she just has an issue with what’s going down in the amphitheater or, as a faction owner, is she also now against the chariot racing, too?

PESSION: I think she’s just against everything that could interfere with her plan. I think if she could, she would become an empress. I think that’s what she has in her mind. She’s like a male-driven Lady Macbeth, kind of manipulative and evil. I think whatever comes in her way, but obviously the faction is a way to control money and to have power. That was the only way she could actually have power, was being an owner of a faction. She couldn’t be in the Senate. She couldn’t be a politician. She couldn’t really do anything for the political arena back then, so that’s a way to be a politician. I think she can be all over as long as it’s part of her major plan. She’s like a spider crawling on the web to get to the poor animal in the middle and eat it, and become empowered.

The pairing of those two things has so much promise!

PESSION: Everything is in her way!

‘Those About to Die’ Season 2 Will Take a Page From ‘The Godfather Part II’

Roland, I’ve got a couple of Season 2 questions for you. I don’t know what you and Robert have spoken about thus far, but if you were to tease what your plan is for Season 2 in terms of giving people more of what they already saw and love but also doing something a little different to give another season a new identity, what would it be?

EMMERICH: We have this idea to do a Godfather Part II model. Meaning, Godfather 1 was this perfect movie, and they said, “What should we do?” They went into the past. You show how all this came to be, that Domitian became emperor, and that gets his son in trouble because he’s related to him. They go after him and he survives. Then, on the other hand, tell the story of all these characters and what happens further. I don’t want to give that away.

Image via Comic-Con

Given the fact that this is your first time working in television, what have you made of the process of getting a show renewed for a second season thus far? Is there anything about those kinds of discussions that have surprised you?

EMMERICH: That comes with success. When you have a successful show, they want to have a second one. I think we were pretty successful so far. I always wait for the call.

How the Cast of ‘Those About to Die’ Felt About Working With Anthony Hopkins
“It’s amazing to go, ‘Wow, I just did a scene with Anthony Hopkins.’”
Image via Peacock

Can you tell me something you do in Those About To Die Season 1 that you’ll be able to look back on and say, “I am so proud of myself for what I did there?”

MACARI: Working with Anthony Hopkins. [Laughs] That’s a pretty insane bucket list experience. You know what I mean? That’s a pretty crazy one and something that is gonna be with me for the rest of my life. What made it so nice was it really felt like he was having a great time. It’s amazing to go, “Wow, I just did a scene with Anthony Hopkins.” That’s incredible! But then coming back to the hotel at the end of the day and being like, “I just did a scene with Anthony Hopkins and I think he had a great time doing it.” [Laughs] That’s even better!

RHEON: For me, it was being at the hotel when Jojo came back and talked about doing the scenes with Anthony Hopkins. Getting to hear about it was wonderful.

Image via Comic-Con

PESSION: We were shooting with Anthony Hopkins, and then Iwan arrived, and he said, “Hi.” He was in every single day. The only days he didn’t shoot was when Anthony Hopkins was shooting. So he came with his backpack, saying, “Hello, I’m Tenax!” You guys are from the same town?

RHEON: Same country. Wales.

Who wants to follow that up? And by the way, what inspires the question is that I’m a big believer that nobody in this business tells themselves “good job” enough, and I think we all need to do it more often.

HASHIM: I think for me, I couldn’t say one specific bit. I think once we finished and realized the madness that we just created and were involved in, living in Rome, that whole process becomes a very proud moment, being alongside some of these great cast members and Roland directing and the sets are unbelievable. It’s not until two or three months later, when I was in London, that I realized what type of show I just did.

LEONIDAS: For me, I remember it was a few weeks into the training that myself and the other charioteers were doing. In fact, we were sort of coming to the end of it, and the Hungarian guys said to us in the morning, “You guys know what you’re doing. Go set up the chariots, start going around Circus Maximus.” And I stood with Gonzalo, and we were helping Lorenzo set up one of the other actors on it, and Eniko had already started going and Pepe was going around Circus Maximus on these charts. I remember looking at us all, thinking, “We did it.” Because the first week we had turned up and, except for Pepe, who had spent a lot of time with horses, the rest of us were clueless and terrified. There were some really hard moments in the training where we were like, “Are we able to do this?” The stakes just got harder and harder as they tried to graduate us as quickly as possible.

Just watching us all set up, watching all of us harness the horses and do it on our own, and then actually going around Circus Maximus as the others are going in the other direction and just nodding at each other, realizing that we were doing it—that was quite a magic moment for me. I think for all of us who were there, those last few days were really special as we knew it was coming to an end. You’re also saying goodbye to these horses that you’ve spent all this time with that become these friends of yours.

Image via Peacock

MACARI: The horses didn’t really enjoy it, man. [Laughs]

MARTINS: A little thing I’m proud of is that I was seeing all these men going to the gym preparing for fighting, and I was like, “I’m gonna be a gladiator too. I wanna fight!” And then I had one scene!

That scene is something else.

MARTINS: I had to do it twice, and I survived! We had to do it over again to make it longer and more brutal, and I survived it, and I’m part of it.

Those About to Die is available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.

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