After the long and difficult process of trying to figure out who should replace Andy Whitfield on the hit Starz original series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the actor who will step into the title role has officially been chosen, and his name is Liam McIntyre.
Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after the resoundingly popular first season, and their sophomore run was put on hold. At a time it seemed Whitfield was about to make a full recovery, but sadly he had a setback and the show was delayed again, forcing Starz to consider either recasting Whitfield’s role or possibly even canceling the show all together.
Many of you commented on the looming decision and ultimately confirmed choice to recast, and most, while not at all that comfortable with replacing Whitfield, seemed to want the show to go on one way or another.
With the news that McIntyre has been chosen, I think all of you fans can breathe a subtle sigh of relief. Will this gentleman be able to bring the same level of performance that Andy Whitfield did? We won’t know for sure until we seem him in action. But what we do know, as you can see by the image above and a few other pictures of the actor, is that he doesn’t look all that different from Whitfield. There’s going to be an adjustment period for we the fans of the show, that goes without saying, but the closer he looks to Whitfield’s Spartacus, the easier it will be to move forward after this unfortunate situation.
McIntyre in an Australian actor who has yet to do anything very well-known, apart from an appearance on the WWII series, The Pacific. This of course is about to change very quickly. He has a few other credits to his name, however, and a simple search will lead you to some of his work if you’d like to see him in action.
Speaking of the big announcement, Starz President and CEO Chirs Albrecht had this to say:
Since no one can really replace Andy, we realized that we should instead find an actor who can truly lead ‘Spartacus’ forward.
It was important to us to have Andy endorse the idea of recasting this part, which he did in the same heroic manner that he’s dealt with his whole ordeal. And that, coupled with our fortune in finding a young actor with the gladiator credentials and the acting ability of Liam, makes it easier for us to keep this hit franchise going.
Now, until season 2 finally arrives, don’t forget that it was decided a while back to make a prequel mini-season called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. The six-episode prequel will debut this Friday at 10pm EST on Starz — don’t miss it!
What do you guys think of the new Spartacus based on the little we have to go on?
[Starz]
