'Spartacus' is sexy, but 'not soft porn'

Lawless plays Lucretia, a Lady Macbeth-like figure in Starz new series premiering at 9 p.m. Friday on Starz. It tells the story of Spartacus, the gladiator who eventually leads an uprising against the Roman empire. (Read my "Spartacus" review)

So why all the sex? 

"It seems relevant to that time and what a sort of volatile, crazy world," said newcomer Andy Whitfield. "Actually, it would be inauthentic to not go there."

Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) won't stop fighting until he's reunited with his wife, Sura (Erin Cummings).

"Spartacus" follows the fighter from his life as a free Thracian soldier who is torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, enslaved by Romans and condemned to the brutality of the Ludus--a school for gladiators run by Lucretia's husband, Batiatus (John Hannah).

In order to win his wife's freedom and to stay alive, he must learn to fight and make money for Batiatus. That's not an easy task when he bunks with dozens of other muscled men who also are desperate to survive.

Told in a visually heightened, graphic-novel style similar to the film "300," "Spartacus" pushes TV boundaries beyond just the sex, according to co-creator and producer Rob Tapert, who also created "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Legend of the Seeker."

"Starz wants to go where I've never been able to go before," said Tapert, who shares his "Spartacus" credits with Steven S. DeKnight, Sam Raimi and Josh Donen. "Steven's been able to write characters and bring to life that world in a way that none of the other projects I've worked on have."

"It is not family entertainment," he said. "It's adult entertainment."

But don't call it pornography, says Lawless, who happens to have played Xena and is married to Tapert.

"When there's a sex scene ... it is about something else," she said. "Otherwise, it would be on the Playboy Channel. This is not soft porn. It's a bloody good yarn and you want to be on board. This is a great show."

READ MY PAST 'SPARTACUS' COVERAGE HERE

MORE ABOUT SEX IN "SPARTACUS"
Below you can read more comments about the adult nature of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" from cast members and the series' creators. First is the conversation generated by my questions during a recent conference call with Lucy Lawless, Andy Whitfield and writer/producer Steven S. DeKnight.

CW: Lucy, at Comic-Con you said it was stressful getting your kit off all the time on set. You were about half way through filming Season 1 then. Did it get any easier?
LL: Well, I don't get it off all the time.
AW: Yes you do. [Laughs] No you don't.
LL: At lunchtime.
AW: Just in the lunch cue, yeah.
LL: But, yes, I will say every time it's been a little stressful, and the first time I completely freaked out for about three days in advance then had to go. We wrapped at 7 p.m. I got straight in my car, went home and went straight to my bedroom, said good-night and crashed out for 12 hours. It was quite something to wrap your head around that. We're just modern people and we've built up all these taboos.
But I will say in regards to nudity, you get kind of used to it. It's historically accurate that there are slaves standing around in states of undress and after a while, it becomes a non-issue. It's loses its taboo. It's just irrelevant. ... The sex scenes are always choreographed, it's always a layer--there's no skin on skin contact apart from the kissing. So, it's pretty standardized. And then what you think you are seeing in the final cut, it was pretty controlled.

Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) and Batiatus (John Hannah) are toxic people, but a loving couple. (Starz photos)

SD: And one of the things with the nudity that I was always interested in, I think it's great with Lucy and John Hannah's character, is they are husband and wife. Of course, husbands and wives get undressed and have a conversation while they're doing it. So, the nudity is not always in a sexual situation. People do get dressed and undressed.
LL: And they would have conversations while I'm in a bath with slaves and attendants. So, naturally you are in a state of undress, but there is something going on in the scene that is more riveting than me, believe it or not.
AW: Oh, come on Lucy, that's not true.

EVEN MORE SEX

Steven DeKnight, co-creator, writer, producer:
"Everything I've read, [Rome] was a very visceral place both in its regards to sex and its regards to violence ... You know, you'll see some background sex going on. That's obviously a part of the bigger scene, but once our main characters--there is always something else going on in the sex scene. There is always--it's a discussion, it's a power play, it's exploration of love. It's never just for the sex or titillation."

Erin Cummings, who plays Sura, wife of Spartacus:
"I think that probably be hottest sex scene in the show is Lucy's. ... There is something really dynamic between her character and her husband. They're such a powerful couple. I think that's one of the interesting things about the choreography of the sex scenes with all of the different couples is that [the sex] is geared toward the relationships. For example, when Rick Jacobson was directing my sex scene with Andy Whitfield, he specifically talked about how he wanted it to be that slow, deep, grinding love-making that just brings a tear to your eye; that every person wishes they were having--that kind of passionate sex scene. And then there are other sex scenes that you see where it's just two beasts going at it. So I think that the great thing about the sex scenes is that they really are geared toward the characters and how they interact with one another."

THE WOMEN OF "SPARTACUS"