Those About to Die director and executive producer Roland Emmerich was quick to point out that his filmography includes more than disaster epics. During our roundtable interview at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con, Emmerich reminded a journalist that he’s also the director of The Patriot, Anonymous, and Stonewall. That said, Peacock’s Those About to Die seems to fit snugly in his wheelhouse, given its epic scale and spectacular action scenes.
Those About to Die premiered on July 18, 2024 on Peacock with the release of all 10 episodes. Season one stars Iwan Rheon as Tenax, Sara Martins as Cala, Tom Hughes as Titus, Jojo Macari as Domitian, Moe Hashim as Kwame, Johannes Haukur Johannesson as Viggo, Rupert Penry-Jones as Marsus, Gabriella Pession as Antonia, and Dimitri Leonidas as Scorpus.
Roland Emmerich Those About to Die Interview
What was the appeal of a series set in Ancient Rome?
Roland Emmerich: “I think there was no show really, like for example, Rome, was like kind of a show where there was no sports, only war. And I wanted to do something which encompasses everything.”
Why focus on this specific story and characters?
Roland Emmerich: “It was mainly because Vespasian built the Flavian amphitheater which was renamed as the Colosseum. And also, on top of it, he was the first general who came from a family of moor breeders, and that tells you everything. And the last Roman from the Julio-Claudian dynasty was Nero. That was the year of the four emperors, they call it, and he was the last man standing. He reigned and he built. You know, he did something very, very smart. He erased the Golden House that Nero built on that spot and built the Flavian amphitheater, which he never saw how it was opened, but his son Titus opened it.”
The series has both the more intimate character drama as well as these big, massive, amphitheater events. How did you balance those elements?
Roland Emmerich: “It was a lot of writing, you know? It’s like when you don’t leap into the characters, you’re kind of totally lost. So, you have to give everyone a goal and have them kind of fight for these moments and for these goals. And then naturally you need also the excitement of the big races and the big fights, and then the opening of the Florian amphitheater.”
Which character’s voice do you hear in your head? Who do you identify with the most?
Roland Emmerich: “Well, I mean, it’s a super difficult question because I like all my actors. But if I would like kind of say a person I really, really more see myself in is Kwame. Because he’s like this guy who you will say, he’s way too short, but he’s incredibly fast and he has this person with him, his mom, and they together figured it out.”
Do you think he’s the character most viewers latch onto?
Roland Emmerich: “I think they will like Scorpus a lot, but I hope naturally that they love also Tenax and Cala as a pair because they have a very interesting story. And the sons as well, Emperor Vespasian’s sons, because they’re both so different.”
How much was practical versus CGI?
Roland Emmerich: “A lot was real. But we had to kind of naturally, you know, use a lot of CGI. For example, whenever you see a wide shot of the Circus Maximus, for example, it’s always CGI. But then we had a relatively big set, which we mainly used the sets of the last Ben Hur remake. But there was nothing there and whatever was there was wrong. So, I kind of just said, ‘Okay, let’s use only the grounds.’
We built a great, kind of size-wise, set for the Imperial Platform and also where you could do some stuff with many, many people. But everything else was in CGI. But even the set of the Imperial Platform was massive. It was massive! And then the only thing that we did, we built inside – they had a really, really big stage and they shot many, many big movies there – I shot all the stuff of the Coliseum inside.”
If you were a Roman God, which God would you be?
Roland Emmerich: “Bacchus.”
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The Those About to Die Plot, Courtesy of Peacock: Those About to Die is an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of Ancient Rome never before told – the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most… blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.
This post was last modified on July 30, 2024 2:55 pm