'Those About to Die' director Roland Emmerich: Gladiator epic mirrors modern society

NEW YORK, July 18 (UPI) -- Director and executive producer Roland Emmerich says the characters depicted in his new gladiator drama, Those About to Die , aren't so different from modern purveyors and consumers of entertainment.

"I have the feeling like sometimes our society is a circus and, in Rome, it was the Circus Maximus, so there's a lot of parallels, which is incredible when you analyze it. The Romans were as [big] sports fanatics as it gets," Emmerich told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"We have, for example, these two fans who can hardly contain themselves, but there is excitement in the air, and it is really, really important to show that," he said.

The 10-episode series premieres Thursday on Peacock.

It stars Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian, and Jojo Macari and Tom Hughes as, respectively, the ambitious, decadent Domitian and level-headed general Titus -- Vespasian's sons, who have different visions for running first-century Rome.

The cast also includes Iwan Rheon as Tenax, leader of the city's biggest gambling ring, and Sara Martins as Cala, a woman who goes to Rome to try to save her kidnapped and enslaved children. Her son, Kwame (Moe Hashim), also is forced to compete as a gladiator.

This marks the first TV series for Independence Day, The Patriot, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow filmmaker Emmerich.

"I had to kind of learn a little bit," he said.

"That's always good when you go into a medium and you don't know anything about it. Naturally, I watch a lot of TV shows," he said, adding that Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones taught him how "film-like" television can be when properly executed.

"This was quite a change for me, i have to admit, but I think we got it right," he said.

Fortunately, Oscar-winner Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs ) was there to lend gravitas to the piece.

"I had three actors in my head, and the first one was Anthony Hopkins and he said 'yes,'" Emmerich said with a laugh.

"it was very easy to get him, but then he was quite challenging," Emmerich said. "I had terrible fun with him because I like a challenge."

Royal family tension

Macari ( Sex Education ) emphasized that his relationship with Hughes is much more amiable than that of the screen siblings they portray.

"The dynamic on the camera, however, is obviously of these two warring brothers, which I think stems from Domitian's angle," Macari said.

"He's very bitter. He feels like he's been done dirty over and over again through his childhood, into his whole life, and all he wants is power and security and control, ultimately," he added. "The big obstacle for him getting those things is Titus, his big bro."

Hughes ( The English ) echoed Macari's sentiments.

"It's very important to highlight that we got on really well [off-screen]. It is one of those things you go through life in this industry, and people you can really get on really well with on a show maybe don't always stick around for eternity, and I feel like Jojo is," Hughes said.

"The opportunity to be working with someone you trust meant that we could really kind of transfer that trust into our work."

The fact they are also musicians helped them communicate with each other instinctively, instead of verbally.

"We didn't overly talk about things in terms of how we're going to depict the relationship," Hughes said. "A lot of it was just quite rhythmic, and I like to work that way, anyway."

Hughes said it was fascinating to explore how two complicated men born of the same parents and raised in the same household could hold such opposite values.

"One could ask, is that nature or is that nurture? Their natures are very different. I think the nurture, one could argue, is quite similar," Hughes said, adding there is a hierarchical element to their family and Titus, from a young age, has tried to live up to the image his father has of him.

"Domitian doesn't have that," Hughes added. "That [tension] Is there from the get-go and was very interesting to play."

Hughes said it was a dream come true to work with Hopkins, an actor he described as the best working today.

"He's so fun. He's so nice. He's such a gentleman. He was welcoming and also, in scenes, he'd be there with you," Hughes said.

"Never in a way that felt anything other than supportive. We were a team, trying to make the best show we could make, and to have him as a teammate was just ludicrously good. It was a real thrill and something I'll forever hold very dear."

Master of Games

Rheon ( Game of Thrones ) plays Tenax, a low-born social climber who risks his safety to run a gambling ring in pursuit of fame and fortune.

"All of these sort of underworld activities are of a slightly dubious morality," Rheon said.

"He's grown up as a sort of street kid in Rome, and he's risen by just being crafty and a smooth operator and probably more ruthless and smarter than everyone else, all the other kids, just to stay alive," Rheon added.

"He's risen to the top, but I think when you meet him, you see he also helps the kids, as well, so he's not a completely ruthless person. He's got a heart."

He has mixed feelings about the city's wealthy class.

"Patricians run everything, so he both hates them and wants to be one of them," Rheon said.

Also trying to navigate the treacherous social structure of Rome is Cala, played by Martin ( Death in Paradise ).

"She arrives in Tenax's house because he's the owner of one of her daughters, and that's the perfect encounter for her because he knows the city, being the crime boss," Martin said.

"She will use all this knowledge to find ways to free her children, so she's not driven by the pursuit of money or fame or power. She's just there to save her children."

The co-stars said they think contemporary viewers will connect with the show's characters and themes.

Rheon pointed out that people love sports and spectacles in every society around the globe.

"This is a really fascinating look at how they did it in ancient Roman times, and I think it's the first time really you see it in its entirety, on every level," he said.

"You follow the intricacies of how the factions are owned at the top and they're operated at the bottom. You've got the drivers, you've got the horse handlers," he added. "Then you have Tenax in the middle, trying to pull all the strings."

Martin said the story most likely will appeal to the darker sides of people's natures.

"It resonates on how we as human beings are so eager to consume spectacle, but also how much we want blood, in some ways, to see how it turns wrong and that was horrible at the time [in ancient Rome]," she said.

"But we still have that. If there's an accident on the road, we don't change our lanes. We want to see that," she added. [Powerful people] use that appetite for entertainment to divert people and to divert their anger and frustration. So, I think it's still accurate how countries need to give people bread and games."