Spartacus interview #2 (of 5): Dustin Clare

This year’s San Diego Comic Con definitely proved that if you’re willing to fight for it, you’ll get to see something good. Stepping up and fighting for a spot in the press room for the upcoming season of Spartacus was certainly worth the experience. I’d like to present a press round table in five parts. Part two is with the ever charming Dustin Clare who portrays the handsome and charismatic gladiator, Gannicus.

Question: How you doin’ today? 

Dustin Clare: Alright.

Question: How’s San Diego for you so far?

Clare: San Diego. I’ve been to San Diego once before for Rugby Union Sevens many years ago. But um yeah I haven’t been – and I’ve surfed in La Jolla a bit – but I haven’t been back for a while. – Um but yeah but I haven’t been, this is my first time to Comic Con. Yeah, first time.

Question: So where do you hope your character will go?

Clare: Um…

Question: He’s on his journey now…

Clare: Yeah, he’s on his journey. He’s kind of, he stays pretty solo really. he’s still journeyman. We kind of visit a little in season 1 and uh, he continues to be a man of his own uh, uh a man of his own world, you know? So he’s still uh, he’s just got the pack on his back and he gets to make his own decisions since he’s a free man now, when we find him again. And he uh, yeah, he’s very much a journey man, he doesn’t have anyone to answer to so it’s nice because there’s no… you don’t have that class structure that’s used in the prequel and in the ludus. He’s his own man. He won the *something* in the arena, his freedom, you know so he is very much a master of his own destiny.

Question: Did you know that you would be coming back for this season?

Clare: Yeah I did, yeah.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about when your character will be returning or when he’s going to be introduced to the series?

Clare: Um, he’ll come back in uh… sort of… I think it’s around episode… I think it’s… a little earlier than halfway through the season. So um, so uh… episode 5 I believe. But no I can’t really go into it on how he’s coming back because it’s kind of an important plot point. Yeah, I’m sorry.

Question: Are you going to run into Crixus? Are *you* looking for him or what’s gonna happen?

Clare: Uh, Crixus, um, he’s gonna run into everyone again. He’s gonna, he’s gonna be reintroduced into the show so… so he’ll be revisiting you know everyone again and meeting new characters, characters like Spartacus and um, new characters that have been involved in this season of the show. Yeah, but he’s definitely has relationships that he’s gotto um, gotta reestablish, gotta reconnect with and um we see a change in him. A change from when we saw him in the prequel and we haven’t seen him for five years and he hasn’t been away studying how to be a hair dresser, he’s actually been uh really, um, he’s really been uh been changing and growing and we see a different man that we saw from the prequel. Um, but a man that has a lot of, um, a lot of skeletons that he still has to deal with and that’s kind of why he’s back. But we see, we definitely see a man who’s grown and changed and evolved. Yeah, so I’m excited kinda where the character is going and where he’s come from and the change. I kinda like to keep the audience moving and changing and guessing and I don’t like to keep the audience in the one place with the character you know? I want them to be guessing where he’s going and where he’s come from and that’s, that’s fun to play with.

Question: Can you talk a little bit about sort of the first time you walked onto the Spartacus set and what it felt like to you when they, you know called action for the first time? And how it’s changed your life since?

Clare: Um, I’ve done a lot of work in Australia so I mean sets not a foreign thing to me but definitely walking onto that set I knew I was on something that had a little bigger production value. You know? They are big production studios and big sets and big sound stages so I definitely had uh, had that feeling. But I mean I just finished a film in Australia with Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis so that’s being released uh in September in Australia and then I just did another film that’s a musical where I had to sing and dance and you know, very different – play guitar – you know very different from this kinda stuff so yeah. It’s kinda about picking your *something* and picking and choosing. I’m throwing swords around here but I’ve obviously got a lot of things that I’m doing.

Question: Will you get to use those talents on Spartacusat all?

Clare: A musical episode, I’ll tell you what anytime there is a musical episode yeah they’re just dying. But um, yeah it’s been my entry into the American market place, um, this production in particular so that’s what it’s been for me and um yeah, that’s kind of how I’ve been using the time of things like this.

Question: Will you have a love interest in the next season?

Clare: Um I think Gannicus always has love interests, plural. So yeah.

Clare: I mean, you know, that’s defiantly um, that’s definitely something that’s going to be explored more in the next season, you know, that relationship that he has with Oenomaus and uh, the friendship and the strength of that relationship to see what it endure and survive. Um, yeah. That’s, that’s kind of the most important relationship for Gannicus and really the most important thing for him to uh, to acknowledge and kinda move forward with and to kind of settle himself as a man and a human within the, within the crazy world that he lives. It’s an important relationship.

Question: So do you think that with everything that happened with Melitta has affected how he views women or love or anything like that?

Clare: Oh no, we defiantly see changes, definitely see changes in the man. I mean you haven’t seen him for five years and I think he’s really… he has… there are some things that will never within the man like all of us there are some things that *something* some kinda things that we’re kind of really staunch about. But there’s other things that we can definitely grow and learn and move and bend with and I think he’s doing that. Yeah.

Question: Will you be fighting for pay or how are you gonna make a-how are you gonna survive?

Clare: Just scraps off the ground, I don’t know.

Question: Live off the earth?

Clare: *chuckle* yeah just leaves and… how he’s making money, that’s a good question. You’ll have to tune in.