‘I‘m not a gambling man,” Iwan Rheon confesses. “I do buy a lottery ticket, but it’s more of a dream than a gamble.” Then he smiles and says, “Every time I buy one, I think about how I’m going to spend the money.”
It’s slightly unnerving to see the 39-year-old Welsh actor smile. Although his TV and filmography is stacked, stretching back to 2002 with a part on the Welsh soap Pobol y Cwm, he’s most known for his role as Game of Thrones’ sadistic villain Ramsay Bolton. On that show, when Rheon smiled it was usually followed by something terrible happening to another character.
Today, however, it signals the start of a story. “After a big night out when I was in drama school, it was the Grand National horse race day – which I don’t particularly love or condone – but my mate came in and he was like, ‘I want to put a bet on that. Do you have a fiver?’ Well, we won. We did really well. We were students and all of a sudden we had loads of money.” He chuckles at the memory and says, “That was a great day, man.”
That story ties in neatly with his role in the new swords-and-sandals historical epic series, Those About to Die.
Set in Ancient Rome, Rheon plays Tenax, a crime boss who runs a gambling den where punters bet on the city’s violent chariot races and to-the-death gladiatorial fights. Having built his underworld empire from nothing, earning fear and respect along the way, Tenax begins to have aspirations of joining Rome’s elite by scheming his way into ownership of a chariot faction. However, having a criminal join their ranks is a notion not at all welcomed by Rome’s wealthy, political power players.
“What’s important with Tenax is that he’s not like Ramsay Bolton,” Rheon says. “Ramsay Bolton is a complete sociopath who has no empathy for anyone and doesn’t give a shit about anyone.
“Tenax, on the surface, is this gangster, a hard person, but the more you get to know him, you realise there’s a real depth to him. He’s come from the streets. He’s struggled through life but he’s managed to get himself to the top.
“He cares about his environment, he looks after the people around him and he’s got friends. He likes horses, and animals and looks after the kids on the streets because he never got that.
“He’s got a real compassion but he’s also a ruthless gangster. He’s a product of his environment. He’s deeply conflicted but also incredibly ambitious. That creates a really compelling character to play.”
The show is based on American writer Daniel P Mannix IV’s 1958 novel of the same name, which also loosely inspired Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning film Gladiator in 2000. With the release of Those About to Die and a belated sequel to Scott’s action-epic charging onto cinemas later this year, we may be witnessing the start of a Roman revival.
Certainly, this small-screen adaptation has attracted big-screen talent with its fast-paced blend of fact and fiction. The 10-episode series stars Rheon’s countryman Sir Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian who in his 10-year rule began the construction of Rome’s Colosseum. It was written by screenwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan), and co-directed by Roland Emmerich, the “Master of Disaster” behind big-budget blockbusters like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Moonfall.
Rheon says that Emmerich brought his blockbuster ethos to the production, which was filmed at Rome’s famous Cinecittà studios. He talks about the huge sets that were built, including multi-room stages that allowed his camera to follow the actors as they walked around their houses or the stables, and how each set had an abundance of candles, as Emmerich wanted the scenes to be lit naturally.
“It felt really alive and was incredibly intense,” he says. “It was hot and dark and dusty, but it gave you that sense of the world that they lived in, a world without electricity and lit by fire.”
Working with Emmerich was also a different experience for Rheon, one that veered from excitement to terror.
“He demands a lot out of everyone. The standard’s high. He moves fast but he’s not going to just go, ‘Oh, that’ll do.’ He’ll go again and again and again until the take’s perfect, visually and performance-wise,” he explains. “Roland doesn’t really say anything to you, so you have to accept that what you’re doing is good, but then he’ll come over and give you an absolute diamond note.”
For such a nice chap, it’s funny how Rheon is best known for playing one of TV’s most hated characters. As he said, Tenax is no Bolton but you definitely wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him. It makes you wonder why the affable Rheon keeps getting cast as these violent, unsavoury types.
“I’m clearly quite a ruthless man,” he laughs. He pauses for a second, then says, “I don’t know, man. I think it’s …” before trailing off and giving up.
Then Iwan Rheon grins and says, “I don’t have a clue. It’s a weird one.”
Those About to Die premieres on Prime Video on July 19.
