Lucy Lawless to reprise popular TV character in new series

The actor last played the villainous role over a decade ago

Lucy Lawless is set to reprise one of her most popular characters for the forthcoming Spartacus series House of Ashur.

The Xena: Warrior Princess actor, 56, starred as the Roman villain Lucretia in the gladiator drama alongside Andy Whitfield, who played the titular character until his death from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011 when his role was taken over by Liam McIntyre until 2013.

Lawless will reprise her role as Lucretia in a guest-starring role for the forthcoming House of Ashur series, alongside cast members Graham McTavish, Tenika Davis, Jamaica Vaughan, Ivana Baquero, Jordi Webber, Claudia Black, India Shaw-Smith and Leigh Gill, according to Deadline.

Written and executive produced by the Spartacus creator, Steven S. DeKnight, House of Asher, has been described by its network, Starz, as a “history-bending, erotic, thrilling, roller-coaster experience that builds on everything that made the original series a colossal hit.”

Lawless has previously revealed Lucretia was one of the most intimidating roles she has ever played. Speaking to Collider, she described working on Spartacus as “pretty damn scary” in part due to the show’s nudity, which “is quite counter to one’s nature and to our culture.”

Spartacus sex scenes were especially awkward for Lawless to film as she is married to the show’s executive producer Rob Tapert, who decided not to come on set while she was filming intimate moments with her co-stars.

“Even though theoretically I don’t have any issue with it, I like to think I am a modern young woman,” Lawless told the Daily Record. “It is really uncomfortable. You have to make the unsexy look incredibly sexy.” 

Lucy Lawless in ‘Spartacus’ (Starz)

Last November, Starz greenlighted 10 episodes of House of Asher ten years after Spartacus was last on air and teased an alternative ending plot line for the series.

According to the network, House of Asher will ask: “What if Ashur hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of Spartacus: Vengeance? And what if he had been gifted the gladiator school once owned by Batiatus [John Hannah] in return for aiding the Romans in killing Spartacus and ending the slave rebellion?”

“To be afforded the opportunity to return a decade later to a series you loved is such a rare, wonderful opportunity,” creator DeKnight said.

“I could not be more excited to craft this next chapter in the Spartacus saga with STARZ, Lionsgate, and the incomparable Nick Tarabay.”