Spartacus: War Of The Damned star Todd Lasance is set to reign over this weekend’s Supanova Pop Culture Expo.
“I actually haven't been to a convention myself before, ironically,” says the Aussie actor, who first came to prominence in Home And Away, Cloudstreet and Crownies. “I've always wanted to go to one before, personally, just to attend. Now it's going to be my first time there on a panel, so it's going to be nice having that face-to-face time with Australian Spartacus fans.”
Todd stars as Roman ruler Julius Caesar in the American historical action series, and says preparing for the role was both mentally and physically testing. “It was intense on all levels. As far as research was concerned, I did as much as I possibly could. I got as many books as I could, and online, obviously, there is a lot of information now with the internet. So cycling through there I could just go crazy, look at imagery, read through poems, that sort of stuff. The thing I did shy away from is that I didn't want to see any other performances of Julius Caesar. I had a fear of that, because I wanted to come with my own approach.”
He also answers the question we’ve all been wondering… are those chiselled abs painted on? “This is going to sound so bad,” he laughs. “Mine were mine, but [as for some other characters]... I can't give any names out... I worked pretty hard and was pretty damn committed to it. Even after 15 hour days I would come back and work out with whoever the actors were that were on set that day, so a lot with Simon (Crassus), Christian (Tiberius) and Blessing (Castus). I ate like a machine. I didn't want any enhancers from make-up, I wanted it to be natural and all me. I worked hard for that. “I am also very selective with making the right decisions going forward. I don't want to just jump into a role because it is work and money is on offer, I have never been influenced by that. I have worked very hard with my agent and we've tried to carve a career as opposed to just working non-stop. For me it's about moving forward, making really interesting choices and expanding my work as much as I possibly can to be the best possible actor that I can hopefully become.”
