When the gay gladiator Barca came to a brutal end half way through the first season of Spartacus: Blood & Sand, most viewers figured that was the last they had seen of the Beast of Carthage. But when Spartacus star Andy Whitfield needed time off to undergo treatment for cancer, Barca got a second chance at life in the prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

Not much has changed for Barca in the prequel – he’s still a slave fighting in the arena for the glory of the House of Batiatus – but for Antonio Te Maioha, the actor who plays Barca, the second time around was definitely easier in many respects. He was already in fighting shape and filming took place in summer rather than winter – an important difference when one's costume mostly consists of a glorified leather Speedo, not to mention the fact the actors were constantly being sprayed down to give the impression they were sweating.

AfterElton recently caught up with the Kiwi actor via phone while he shared a watermelon with kids on a hot New Zealand summer day.

(Note: This interview was conducted before the last episode of Gods of the Arena had aired.)

AfterElton: Congratulations on being resurrected. How surprised were you when you heard Barca was coming back?

Antonio Te Maioha: It was great news and much needed as well.

AE: When you heard there was going to be a prequel, were you surprised that Barca was going to be a part of it?

ATM: They kind of slaughtered me in the first season, and I figured I had a pretty good chance of making it. No, it was great to find out that I was going to be involved.

AE: What do you enjoy the most about playing Barca?

ATM: He has the ability to react any way he wants to anything. It’s quite fun. He can either scream and yell and laugh or completely ignore something.

AE: Going back to the first original series, how surprised were you when the first couple of episodes became such a big hit? Did you expect that, or were you surprised?

ATM: I think I expected it during filming, based on how well Hercules and Xena and things like that have done, and this felt like the bigger brother of all of those shows. The way things were being filmed, I knew there were a lot of things that would appeal to viewers. I’m still not exactly sure how big it is because I haven’t been over to the States at all.

AE: It’s big. The first episode did even better than the original series.

ATM: (laughs) The feedback I’ve received on Facebook seems to be that people are really stoked on it.

AE: What was it like playing a character like Barca who is

physically so powerful but ultimately he’s got so little power? When

Batiatus tells him to go kill a kid he has to do it and when Batiatus

ultimately kills him there is nothing he can do about it. Was that hard

to play?

ATM: It was frustrating. I could

relate to it on some level. Frustrating for having to live under the

oppressor. He had to be good to the people that put him in bad

situations. But getting his freedom was his ultimate objective. I don’t

feel like I’ve ever played any bad characters, I just feel like I’ve

played characters with objectives that get compromised. So if he has to

do one thing he would do what he had to do to get closer to his

objective.

AE: I’m curious, how hard was it to have to run around wearing so little? I guess you get used to it after a while.

ATM: It was definitely harder the

first season because we shot in the winter. It was just very cold and

the make up team was consistently spraying us with stuff to make us look

hot. For me it was more difficult than the actual job because the fact

that we spent so much time being sprayed with … crap. (laughs)

For the prequel it was a little bit warmer, so we figured out what to

do to make it a little warmer so people were a little more comfortable.

AE: What did you think when you were originally cast for the part and they said, “You’re going to be playing this big, tough, hulking gladiator and by the way your character is gay.”

ATM: To be honest I thought, “Now what did I do in the audition that gave them the impression that made me get the part!”

Nah, I’m kidding. When I thought of the gladiator, I thought he’s a rough and tough from start to finish type of guy, and then they said, “No, no we want more of a guy from down the coast. We want him smiling and a little mixture” because they didn’t want a straight tough guy the whole time.

We didn’t have a lot of acting type of rehearsals ... so we didn’t know where each other’s character were at with their relationships. Then we started to see what others were doing around us, and the writing did a lot more than just give a one dimensional take on it my relationships.

AE: Did you and Eka Darville, who played your lover Pietros, talk about your characters and their relationship?

ATM: Yes, I mean you know it was a challenge but at the same time it was an opportunity. I think quite often people think if you’re going to be an actor you must be an outgoing, extrovert, kind of egotistical type of person. But I think quite often in order to do the things you have to do you actually have to let go of a lot of ego and stop worrying about what other people are thinking and get to what the story requires or whatever the character requires. So it was a good opportunity for me personally.

AE: Does that mean you were a little concerned or nervous about playing the character to start with?

ATM: There were definitely some nerves there. Every time we got a new script and more rewrites the scenes got to be more and more full on and I’d say, “I’m doing what?” (laughs) But I don’t think we ever did anything as full on as it was written. Some of those things would make you more than a little nervous.

AE: What do you mean “full on”?

ATM: More explicit in the script then the way it was actually filmed.

AE: Oh, you mean your scenes with Eka?

ATM: Yes, particularly the love scenes.

AE: So what’s it been like working with Joseph Brown who plays Auctus versus working with Eka? Can you talk about how those two relationships are different?

ATM: Auctus is a well-established gladiator with a good reputation and if Batiatus' father had his way, Auctus probably would have been the main guy and the leader. The number one gladiator. It’s more of a peer kind of relationship, and a little fun with who has got the upper hand in situations. It’s more of a man-to-man thing there and Pietros is a lot younger.

AE: Were you less nervous this time filming those scenes?

ATM: It was a definitely easier the second time. It was like, “Yep, been here.” (laughs) I kind of knew what to expect. A lot of it just comes down to logistics. How do we did it and if we go too far one way, we’ll be out of focus and all these kind of mechanical things involved to film it and make sure we get it all done by the end of the day.

AE: You’re talking about the romantic stuff?

ATM: Any of it. The love scenes. It sort of helps that you have to just do what’s required. There isn’t a lot of room for dramas or hang-ups you just have to get the job done really.

AE: I think all our readers felt bad for Barca last season. Especially when he had to kill that kid since he didn’t have any choice. What was it like working on the scene when Batiatus killed you?

ATM: That was mid-winter and the water in that scene was real so that was three very cold days. But to go back and explain Barca as a whole, he doesn’t get a ton of dialogue to explain where he’s coming from. He’s usually just abusing someone or putting someone down and making some remark about something instead of giving insight to what his motivations are and why he does things a certain way. Not a whole lot of conversing, just random remarks here and there.

AE: Who would you say were tougher -- Maori warriors or Roman Gladiators?

ATM: Maori warriors in pre-colonial times were living in a bit more comfortable estate rather than the gladiators who were subjected to a prison really. And apparently some of the real ruins and the living conditions the gladiators had were only four feet high so they constantly had to walk hunched over. And they would make themselves quite fat really so they could take some surface wounds without hurting anything vital.

AE: I didn’t know that.

ATM: Yes. Someone was telling us about it on set. And of course the all the helmets and armor they wore were so heavy. I think I’d rather be a warrior than a gladiator, let’s put it that way.

AE: I understand most of the acting is done in front of blue screen, is that right?

ATM: Green screen. Yes. I grow up doing street theater and touring in plays in school so I’ve been in situations where buses are going past and people are doing whatever they want, especially when working on the street so it didn’t bother me one way or another about the green screen. I don’t find it any different then trying to create a world in a theater.