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Todd Lasance cast as Julius Caesar


Guest bradyell

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Is it funny that they don't mention Home & Away? They mention Crownies, Cloudstreet and the Grant Bowler telemovie but not H&A where if I'm not mistaken is where he shot to "fame" and where most people would recognise him from.

I actually understand why they don't mention H&a... I have read on this tvtonight.au and different australian websites about H&A sometimes, just for fun, and when it is about him people start to jugde him because he has been on H&A... I don't see that they are talking about Ryan Kwanten or Chris Hemsworth... For Todd L I don't think that H&A is only a positive thing, because people are saying that he can't act just because he has been on H&A. I think it is different for Josh Q Tart for example.. because he played a different character... When Todd is mentioned in australian media is only referred to as a half naked hunk from H&A (saw for the first time a video clip from an interview las week on a msn site...just horrible) without actually mentioning that Adens character was about far more than walking around on the beach and they did not show good clips from his other projects either, just clips with him without a shirt... This probably started with H&A .. Aden was a very popular character and he was often referred to as "hot" and that is the reason why he got that "stamp" on him... I believe this is very harming for his career and effect how people are seeing him. He really deserves to be referred to as more than hot.... I haven't seen him in anything since he left H&A because I don't live in australia... but his appearance in H&A showed that he is a decent actor.

I haven't forgotten about the article posted here a few years ago with Drew (Bobby Morley) and that he accused H&A for treating him as a meat puppet... The show is very focused on hot bodies and take the focus off the storylines, especially the hype around the show. I don't think it is healthy for neither the actors or us, and for an actor who want to be remembered for their work this must be very frustrating, and a lot of producers will probably not hire them because of their "stamp".

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  • 10 months later...

Todd Lasance brings X factor to 'Spartacus: War of the Damned'

January 24, 2013|By Curt Wagner, @ShowPatrol | RedEye

Todd Lasance was so intimidated about playing Julius Caesar in "Spartacus: War of the Damned," he nearly turned down the role.

The Australian actor was having lunch with his parents when his agent called to say that he'd been hired to play the great Roman leader in the Starz series.

"I nearly burst into tears because I was so excited," Lasance told me during a conference call with reporters. "There were hugs all around and five minutes later I jumped in my car and I swear to God I was two minutes from calling up and pulling out of the role because the fear hit me of what I was just about to undertake."

Thankfully the 27-year-old didn't make that call, and makes Caesar a worthy adversary for Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) in the third and final season, which begins at 8 p.m. Jan. 25. When young Caesar, new to the series this season, makes his debut in the Feb. 1 episode, he allies himself with another powerful Roman, Marcus Crassus (Simon Merrells), to try to take down Spartacus and his growing rebel army.

Lasance, who has appeared in several Australian TV series, prepared to play the Roman by reading as much as he could. But there wasn't a lot available on Caesar's early years, so he also talked with producers about their research. In the end, he said, all he could do was go on his instincts.

"It was extremely daunting, I will admit," he said. "I felt this weight of needing to carry Caesar. ... When you look at Caesar, you need to see someone that would potentially become one of the greatest rulers in history. So I think that played on my mind a lot and I wanted to do him justice, especially with not having a lot of information to sort of work on.

"But my first day, I was absolutely terrified."

Lasance's Caesar is a brash, hotheaded military commander in his 20s who is more eager to battle with a sword than with words. He's blond and buff, and although he has a respect for Roman authorities like Crassus, he's something of a rogue who "kind of flies his own flag to a degree," the actor said.

He's not the older politician wearing a white cloak and wreath viewers might be expecting, Lasance admitted, but "when they see Caesar, they're going to expect to see some sort of X factor. So I'm just hoping that, you know, that comes across."

McIntyre, who himself was new to the series in the second season when he took over the Spartacus role from the late, great Andy Whitfield, thinks Lasance brings that extra something to the role.

"Todd's got this total Brad Pitt vibe," McIntyre told me in a separate interview. "I'm just like, 'Wow, I want to be you.'"

"I think he plays a really exciting Julius Caesar that you haven't really seen on film before," he added. "He's young; he's rude. He's totally selfish. It's just such a wonderful take on this amazing man. I think he's fascinating and he gets better as the season goes through."

Lasance might have even more time with Caesar even after "Spartacus" ends, if rumors of a spinoff about the character prove true.

"There hasn't been anything specifically, officially spoken to me about it," Lasance said, "but it would definitely be something I would look at if it was brought to the table."

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  • 4 weeks later...

Don't bother watching this unless you are prepared to sit through extreme violence and sex scenes that belong in a soft core porn films. It is gory and IMO should not be on our TV screens where it can be accessed by people under 18. The war scenes are bloodthirsty and garish and lend very little to the advancement of the plot. I've seen 18 rated horror movies that are not as violent and psychopathic.

I can't comment on Todd's acting in this and how historically relevant his acting skills are to the plot. He has a twitter account and a Facebook page now so I would suspect that he is also planning to use this role as a springboard into the US.

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My general feeling on this issue is that Australian actors who use H&A (or the Australian television industry in general) as a springboard to success in the United States truthfully need to be realistic about their expectations regarding the difference between a successful acting career in Australia and one in the United States. While a great deal has been written about regarding the Australian television industry providing a great proving ground and springboard to success in the United States, the fact of the matter is very few Australian actors have ever been able to replicate the level of success they enjoyed in Australia in the United States.

Call it the "big fish/small pond" syndrome or whatever terminology you might want to ascribe to it but just looking at the past ten years what you clearly have is a generation of young Australian actors who reached superstar status in Australia and translate that into "C-list" success in the United States. Now there have been some exceptions in the past decade such as Ryan Kwanten and Chris Hemsworth one of whom has a hit television series to his credit and the other a string of successful movies. However, may I suggest that in both their cases, their success has more to do with taking advantage of opportunities and what was handed to them rather than bringing any serious acting credentials of their own to the table. For example, if you scan Hemsworth's imdb profile you'll notice that 100% of his roles are of the action/adventure genre, a genre which much like the horror genre requires very little ability when it comes to acting. The natural question becomes that in ten years time when Hemsworth is no longer seen as a plum candidate for top action roles, will he be able to transition into other genres such as drama or comedy which may require a bit more in the skill department and less in the physical appearance department? I have similar reservations about Kwanten regarding whether or not he will be able to translate his success on "True Blood" into success as either a headliner at the box office or continued success in the television industry.


Remember the two cases I just cited to you are considered to be overwhelming success stories when it comes to Australian actors making the transition to the United States. There are far and beyond more cases of Australian actors finding far less success in the United States than the two cases I just cited you. So I guess the point of all this in regards to Lasance or any H&A actor making the transition to the United States is that success is basically a relative term.

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I don't see how you can say the war scenes (in a season entitled war of the damned) "lend very little to the advancement of the plot"...pretty sure Spartacus didn't form an army of kittens to lick the romans into touch :wink:. Sure it's not 100% historically accurate (and there are many that will argue the introduction of Caesar blows historical accuracy out of the water!) but they were tough times!!!

Yes there is gore...and a LOT of it and yes, there are sex scenes....quite graphic sometimes...but they are depicting a true story and to cut those things out wouldnt, IMO, do justice to it! They are slaves, uprising against the might of Rome...heads must roll :lol: (and roll they do!!)

If you don't like that kind of things then don't watch....in the UK it's aired well after the watershed and in the US it has warnings before it airs as to what the epsisodes contain.

Having watched the previous 2 seasons I can say that Todd is a brilliant addition to the cast!! Not your typical Caesar that's for sure! His acting is as top notch as always and the naked bath scene in his first episode certainly....held my attention :whistling::lol:

I for one am hoping that the rumoured Caesar spin off actually happens!!!

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  • 1 month later...

Any Todd fans out there not watching need to remedy that asap!!

His performance throughout the season so far has been incredible but in the most recent ep (8) he just blows it out of the water....BREATHTAKING!!! Honestly...if we don't see his name on some major awards it will be a travesty!!

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