Katrina Law, the stunning star of Spartacus: Vengeance, fights the Roman Republic as Spartacus’ love interest, Mira, and faces her greatest fear.

ISSUE: SPRING 2012
DEPT: PERSONALITIES
STORY: COURTNEY HONG

Katrina Lawis afraid of deer. You
wouldn’t know it by watching her as the
strong, newly-freed slave Mira, who
fights alongside rebels on the run in
STARZ’s sex-and-violence saturated hit
series, Spartacus: Vengeance, the sequel
to 2010’s Spartacus: Blood and Sand, in
which she also starred. “This year,
everybody fights,” says Law, who is of
Taiwanese, German and Italian descent.
“Everybody has to fight. They don’t
know if they’re going to live or die.”

To get in fighting shape for
Vengeance, Law spent three months
training with fitness model Anca Marcus
in Los Angeles before jumping into
gladiator boot camp with the cast in
New Zealand. Intense plyometric and
circuit training, including sledgehammer
and sword swinging, ensured that Law
could be a badass on her own terms
during the 14-hour days on set. “There
are few shows [in which] women get to
fight and get down and dirty with the
boys,” says Law, whose main fitness
concern during the first season was not
feeling “ridiculous standing around
naked.” But these days, “I walk off a set
and think, ‘today was the best day on set
ever.’ It was such an emotional high be-
cause I had so much fun.”

She first got that emotional high
after landing the role of Cassie in The
Chorus Line while in college, something
that made her determined to possess
that feeling for the rest of her life. She
then moved from theater to television,
cast in the sci-fi thriller, The Resistance,
an independent, low budget web series
that was eventually funded and re-shot
with the help of STARZ and aired on
Syfy. Law’s pro-bono work on the series,
which she considers one of her greatest
professional achievements, made her a
standout consideration for Spartacus:
Blood and Sand.

Law’s two-year Spartacus adven-
ture has been marked by great highs
and lows: an epic New Zealand en-
gagement to her fiancé of two years, and
the suddendeath of former Spartacus
leading man Andy Whitfield. Law
considers her relationship her greatest
personal achievement. “I’m proud
ofbeing ableto maintain a healthy
relationship and all the work that I had
to put into it to keep it healthy,” she
says. As for Whitfield, who died of non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma last September,
“it’s harder knowing this has all gone
forward without him,” she says. “It
takes the happiness from it. A humble
nod and agracious thank you to Andy
for all that he’s done in my life and for
the show.”

Perhaps Whitfield’s death has
heightened Law’s resolve to overcome
her greatest fear: getting to the end of
her life and regretting not doing every-
thing she could to live life to the fullest.
As for deer, that’s a fear to be conquered
on another day.

— CH

Photo courtesy of Persona PR

You can catch the article on the talented star of Spartacus: Vengeance published in the Audrey Magazine spring issue featuring cover girl Hannah Simone.

Audrey Magazine: Who is the best ass kicker on the show?
Katrina Law: I would have to say Oenomaus. He’s played by Peter Mensah. He’s physically a freak of nature. Nobody should be chiseled like that, it’s unreal. Peter brings an intensity to his character, and when he kicks ass, you just believe it. I think he’s the baddest bad ass on our show.

AM: Who has the best costume on the show?
KL: Probably Lucretia, [played by] Lucy Lawless. She gets beautiful costumes, and the colors and richness. I remember in season 1 [Spartacus: Blood and Sand], the slaves… would all be standing there jealous. We had this ongoing joke- we’re all going to sneak back in and steal all of the clothing. She gets these beautiful wigs, they’re all different colors, and fun ensembles. You just get a little jealous.

AM: Describe a day in your life.
KL: It depends on the schedule for that episode. Most days, I wake up at 4 in the morning, go to the gym by 4:30. Around 6 I would head toward set [and spend] an hour and a half in hair,  makeup and wardrobe. And then hurry up, wait, hurry up, wait… get home around 7:30, 8 o’clock. Not all days were spent physically active. There’s a lot off waiting in this industry. You get paid to wait.

AM: How would you describe the cast culture?
KL: Lots and lots of very naughty jokes. I know more about men and their anatomy and what they do with their anatomy than any woman should. It’s just unreal, [spending] 14 hours a day with testosterone filled, half clothed men. It made for some funny conversations. Eventually, you have to join in, because it’s too much fun not to.

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