Interview: Dan Feuerriegel Says "It's All About Love" With The Possible End Of Nagron
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| Will the love between Agron and Nasir be but a memory? |
Last night’s episode of Spartacus: War Of The Damned brought some huge losses. Not only did we see the mighty Crixus (Manu Bennett) die at the hand of Tiberius (Christian Antidormi) while his lover Naevia (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) watched, but we also saw Agron (Dan Feuerriegel) part ways with lover Nasir(Pana Hema Taylor) and then fall in battle, which could spell the true end of this beautifully presented and much beloved gay love story.
Feuerriegel, who we profiled earlier this year, jumped on the phone with us yesterday to talk about shooting the “Separate Paths” episode, including the heartbreaking scene where Agron says goodbye to Nasir.
AfterElton: The scene between Agron and Nasir was so powerful and essentially a break-up. Talk to me about filming that.
Dan Feuerriegel: It was probably one of my most favorite scenes to do because it just had so much weight to it, and it was two seasons in the making. The best part about it was that we had plenty of time to work on it and TJ [Scott, the episode’s director] was great. He showed us a couple of days before how it would work and set it all up and how I was going to be off sulking and thinking. All of it was built up, in a sense, since Castus (Blessing Mokgohla) arrived in episode three. When I read the scene [in “Separate Paths”] I thought, ‘Awesome.’ It says so many amazing things about the characters, especially for Agron.
Dan Feuerriegel: It was probably one of my most favorite scenes to do because it just had so much weight to it, and it was two seasons in the making. The best part about it was that we had plenty of time to work on it and TJ [Scott, the episode’s director] was great. He showed us a couple of days before how it would work and set it all up and how I was going to be off sulking and thinking. All of it was built up, in a sense, since Castus (Blessing Mokgohla) arrived in episode three. When I read the scene [in “Separate Paths”] I thought, ‘Awesome.’ It says so many amazing things about the characters, especially for Agron.
Agron has been known to be just an angry young boy, and this is him finally growing up. Because he’s so in love with this person, he believes the best thing for him is to go off and live his life even if that involves being with Castus. That’s how I saw it. That [Nasir] would be better off with Castus than with me because all I want to do is fight, and I’m going to continue on with Crixus. I believe that Nasir will be happier alive and with Castus. That’s one of the big reasons why I did that. Of course, it will create a lot of tension within the ranks and the Nagron fans, and I’ve already been seeing that online with the theories and how much they hate Castus. It’s a beautiful scene, and I love how Agron becomes so selfless. It’s all about love.
AE: As always, it was really beautiful how Steven [S. DeKnight, creator] handled the Agron/Nasir romance the same as he did with, say, the Crixus/Naevia romance.
DF: Absolutely. That’s the good thing about being on a TV show is you can really watch it grow, which is why TV is so popular.
DF: Absolutely. That’s the good thing about being on a TV show is you can really watch it grow, which is why TV is so popular.
AE: Without giving too much away, in the next episode, do we see how Nasir reacts to what’s happened to Agron?
DF: It’s a great episode for Pana because you really think he’s going to fall into Castus’s arms, but he blames Castus and himself for Agron leaving, so it’s a great episode for Pana.
DF: It’s a great episode for Pana because you really think he’s going to fall into Castus’s arms, but he blames Castus and himself for Agron leaving, so it’s a great episode for Pana.
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| Why does Agron leave Nasir, knowing he'll end up in the arms of Castus? |
AE: This was also Manu Bennett’s last episode, which was so sad. How was that to shoot since you were in that scene?
DF: The way that they shot it, it was kind of confusing. We needed it to be explained what part of the fight we were doing at the time. TJ was amazing. He’s such a visual director. He would tell us ‘Don’t worry, guys, Everything is in my head. We’ll put this there, we’ll put that there.” But really a long, exhausting day, especially for Cynthia and Manu. Especially Manu, since they focused a lot on him, understandably. His final day was not the day he gets his head cut off, but it was earlier in the fight scene where he kills the guy and takes his medallion. That was his final day. He gave a big speech and everyone gave speeches and it was really lovely.
DF: The way that they shot it, it was kind of confusing. We needed it to be explained what part of the fight we were doing at the time. TJ was amazing. He’s such a visual director. He would tell us ‘Don’t worry, guys, Everything is in my head. We’ll put this there, we’ll put that there.” But really a long, exhausting day, especially for Cynthia and Manu. Especially Manu, since they focused a lot on him, understandably. His final day was not the day he gets his head cut off, but it was earlier in the fight scene where he kills the guy and takes his medallion. That was his final day. He gave a big speech and everyone gave speeches and it was really lovely.
It was also the beginning of the end, especially the fact that I’ve been on the show from the beginning, as well, and knowing it was concluding and that the episodes were kicking along. The correlation between the show ending and how the show ends is so similar that you were able to draw on those emotions, because they were actually happening in your life, as well. It was the beginning of the end, and it really hit emotionally.
AE: It sounds like you guys were really a family, which I noticed when you were here in Los Angeles for the premiere in January.
DF: We’re one big family, and we still hang out together even though some of us are in Canada or back in New Zealand or Australia we still tweet each other or still Facebook or text message. Even though it was called Spartacus it was a massive ensemble show and we had to work together, and yet there would be times when ten of us would be standing around doing absolutely nothing for ten hours but those are the times when you actually do get close. You goof off and entertain each other. It was a magnificent production to be a part of.
DF: We’re one big family, and we still hang out together even though some of us are in Canada or back in New Zealand or Australia we still tweet each other or still Facebook or text message. Even though it was called Spartacus it was a massive ensemble show and we had to work together, and yet there would be times when ten of us would be standing around doing absolutely nothing for ten hours but those are the times when you actually do get close. You goof off and entertain each other. It was a magnificent production to be a part of.
AE: It’s pilot season in LA and you’ve been here auditioning. How’s it going?
DF: Even though I’m on the show and it’s done ridiculously well, I still feel like I have to pay my dues. So, pilot season for me was just all about getting up there and going ‘Hi, my name is Dan. This is what I can do.’ It’s a learning experience and I had to learn how to audition again. It’s been three years and it’s a completely different beast out here. In Australia, I’ll have one a week, maybe two. Over here, you’ll have three or four a day over five days. 12 auditions in three days. That’s insane. I had to learn a whole new set of skills so, for me, it’s been great. I’ve learned so much and I’ve introduced myself to everybody, and now I can start. That’s how it works. I see myself in this for the long haul, so if that requires me to have some time to work on this, then so be it. It’s great be living the dream!
DF: Even though I’m on the show and it’s done ridiculously well, I still feel like I have to pay my dues. So, pilot season for me was just all about getting up there and going ‘Hi, my name is Dan. This is what I can do.’ It’s a learning experience and I had to learn how to audition again. It’s been three years and it’s a completely different beast out here. In Australia, I’ll have one a week, maybe two. Over here, you’ll have three or four a day over five days. 12 auditions in three days. That’s insane. I had to learn a whole new set of skills so, for me, it’s been great. I’ve learned so much and I’ve introduced myself to everybody, and now I can start. That’s how it works. I see myself in this for the long haul, so if that requires me to have some time to work on this, then so be it. It’s great be living the dream!
Next Friday, Starz will air a marathon of “Spoils Of War,” “Mors Indecepta” and “Separate Paths” before airing the last two episodes of the series on April 5th and 12th.
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