The swords and sandals are about the only similarities between Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Xena: Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless says. "They're so different from each other in almost every way. From the technology, the fight sequences, the sex scenes."
Ah, yes, the sex scenes. In addition to the copious amounts of blood spilled on-screen, the Starz ancient Rome epic features boundary-pushing sex scenes that are about as explicit as you can get on television. Lawless, who had not done nudity prior to Spartacus, is at the center of a number of them as manipulative man-eater Lucretia. "When you talk about it, it sounds like you're doing a lot of sex scenes, but I don't feel like I do that much," she says. "My concern was that it fit with the story and that there wasn't any gratuitous sex in this, and it doesn't really trouble me as long as it's relevant to the scene. It's part of the story that they're around in various states of undress. Human beings have always had sex, and a lot of business got done during these transactions. That's what the sex is about."
For Lucretia, the business of sex is to provide her husband, gladiator school owner Batiatus (John Hannah), with an heir — any which way she can, including sleeping with the gladiators at the camp. "She begins, what I think, is quite an abusive relationship with the chief gladiator, the champion, hoping that he might impregnate her," Lawless says. "She's desperate." In her first nude scene, Lucretia and her husband happily discuss political plans while stripping for bed. Meanwhile, off-screen "fluffers" prepare them to consummate. The fluffing is off-screen, but that's still something you've never seen on TV before, said series creator Steven S. DeKnight.
"In the first draft it was written they were engaged in the act and having this conversation," DeKnight said. "[Executive producer and Lawless' husband] Rob [Tapert] felt like this is something we could see anywhere in TV. How can we make it different for our show? There were a lot of extremely graphic, crazy suggestions thrown out that I can't even repeat. They shocked even me, but, finally, I really started thinking about it, and I thought this first scene really needs to set up the master/slave relationship. Why not use that in the sexual connotation and actually have them be fluffers, but not just the woman fluffer for the guy, but also have a fluffer for the woman? It's interesting, because the way it's shot, you really don't see anything with the fluffing going on, but it's the implication that just makes it extremely racy."
That Lawless performed her first full-on sex scenes with British actor Hannah, who she insists was the perfect co-star, was some comfort. "I couldn't have had a better partner... You have to make the unsexy look incredibly sexy." But the actress insists the sex scenes were anything but pleasant: "It's the first time I had to do a sex scene; I try to think of myself as a modern woman but, honestly, I went home and had to go straight to bed. It was so stressful."
There is, of course, even more outrageous debauchery to come. "They would have conversations while I'm in a bath with slaves," Lawless said. "So naturally you are in a state of undress, but there is something going on in the scene that is more riveting than me." Oh yeah? "I will say with regards to the nudity, you get kind of used to it," Lawless said. "It's historically accurate that there are slaves standing around in states of undress, and after a while it becomes a non-issue. It loses its taboo, and it's irrelevant to your day."
So Lawless subsequently shot several further nude sex scenes for the show, with both men and women. While renowned for her buff bod on Xena, Lawless said she's been able to be more natural on "Spartacus." In fact, the actress sets a whole new standard for fitness among 41-year-old mothers of three. "I think I would have been stressed by the idea of doing any form of nudity at any age," she admits. "But if you're an artist of any sort whatsoever - if it seems important to the role or telling the story, or authentic, or historically accurate, then I don't see that you would have an excuse not to do it. Besides, my character is not supposed to be ripped. She's a woman. It's Ancient Rome. It's not like they were popping off to the gym every two seconds, but they were very image conscious, that's for sure."
And apparently, both the male and female actors on the show had prosthetic sex parts available, should they want or need them! "I think everyone's got [a merkin] just for fun," she admitted. "Mine, I haven't had to break it out yet. Though [laughs] next season, maybe! Yeah, wait for it! I'd never actually seen one, certainly never owned one," Lawless continued. "I have one that’s never ever been worn. For all the sex scenes, it has never really been necessary." So what did she do with it? "It’s a virgin merkin," she told us. "It’s in a frame, they gave it to me at the end of the season. I'm too embarrassed — I don’t know what to do with it. I can’t show the kids: 'Mummy, what’s that?' 'Nooooothing!'" But can't she hang it somewhere? "In the deepest, darkest corners of my closet, maybe."
And for the guys? Prosthetic privates! "A couple are stapled to the wall," Lawless said. "I'm not sure if they've used them yet. Nobody's telling!" She insists Spartacus is a must-watch for lusty women as the newcomer, Andy Whitfield, has a terrific body, which he shows off in the mini-series. "There's full frontal male nudity," she adds. "You see plenty, trust me. I'm a little traumatized. I think Starz was really courageous to hop onboard this train," Lawless says. "This is a wild ride and very intense to shoot. And we have so much good stuff coming up. You get to see that the women are more vicious than the men. My lover, Crixus [played by Manu Bennett], is falling in love with my handmaiden, and it is good. Things get very hot and heavy. And very sticky."
To that end, DeKnight said that the series won't shy away from further sexual depictions, but he seconds Lawless' assertion that there's more to the scene than the physical. "Everything I've read is it was a very visceral place, both in its regards to sex and its regards to violence," DeKnight said. "Particularly with the sex scenes, I certainly don't shy away from it, but it's always about something else. You'll see some background sex going on that's obviously part of a bigger scene, but when it's our main characters, there is always something else going on in the sex scene. It's a discussion, it's a power play, it's an exploration of love. It's never just for the sex or titillation."
Television Series: Spartacus: Blood and Sand (S01E012- Revelations)
Release Date: April 2010
Actress: Lesley-Ann Brandt, Lucy Lawless & Viva Bianca
Video Clip Credit: DeepAtSea
Video Clip Info: [DivX5 at 2800 Kbps; 1280 x 720; 25mb for 1mn20s (x5 videos)]
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