This article contains SPOILERS for Spartacus: House of Ashur Episode 4, "Blood and Bone."
The new Starz series Spartacus: House of Ashur is filled with lush character dynamics that leap off the screen, and one such relationship that received a thorough spotlight in this week's episode was that of the Roman noble Cossutia and her daughter Viridia, played by Cladia Black and India Shaw-Smith, respectively. "Blood and Bone" showed us a side to Cossutia we had never seen before, as she coaxed her daughter out of grieving for a day out on the town, only to have it all go horribly wrong when Cilician pirates try to take them hostage.
It's a thrilling scene that gave both actresses the chance to dig deeper into the material. Cossutia has thus far been painted as a villain in House of Ashur, but it's obvious she cares deeply for her daughter. At the same time, Viridia has been grieving he rhusband who was slain at the hands of Spartacus. She has her own needs, and they don't always align with her mother's wishes – especially where Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay) is concerned.
We had the opportunity to speak with Black and Shaw-Smith ahead of the release of Spartacus: House of Ashur, and dove right into the details to discuss their history with Spartacus, the mother-daughter relationship between their characters, and what it was like filming that bloody pirate attack. Read on for the full interview, edited for clarity and length.
WINTER IS COMING: What was your familiarity like with the original Spartacus before learning you were cast in House of Asher?
INDIA SHAW-SMITH: I I knew the show really well, absolutely loved it when it originally came out, so the moment I saw that there was going to be a new iteration, and focused around Ashur, I jumped at the chance to be involved. I absolutely loved it.
CLAUDIA BLACK: And I'm the polar opposite, which is great, to have the contrast. It was on my radar, I watched a little bit of it, and obviously the work and what Steven [S. DeKnight] had been able to achieve with [director/producer] Rick Jacobson in the original iteration, and Lucy Lawless and all the original players, it was definitely on my radar. But in terms of what was going on in my personal life at the time, I'd sort of tuned out of things that were happening in media and was sort of very linearly focused on the task at hand in my life as a mother. So it was really interesting for me to immerse myself in something that was so established.
WiC: Cossutia and Viridia have a really interesting power dynamic as mother and daughter in the show. Were there any other fictional mother-daughter pairings that the two of you used for inspiration or reference for your characters?
ISS: I did think at the time that there's something of of Juliet and Lady Capulet and there being an element in Romeo and Juliet to do with the power dynamics, and between a young woman and her mother about Viridia stepping into her own power and her sense of agency. And actually she's not a little girl like Juliet, but she is now at this point where she is once again unmarried due to being widowed, and she knows what that will mean for her and actually her mother having a say and a role to play in her life and in the next chapter of her life and what will be expected of her. Yeah, I did think a number times about Juliet and Lady Capulet. Juliet wants something of her own, to make her own choices, as does Viridia...that was a really fun dynamic for us to jump into.
CB: I always think about the really difficult ones, especially as far as Cossutia is concerned, because she's a challenging mother to have as a daughter. No matter how well intentioned Cossutia thinks she is...it must be so tough to be her daughter. And you know, Postcards from the Edge, Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep, what it's like to have a nightmare for a mother who takes all the attention and isn't aging gracefully and takes up all the oxygen in the room...it's an odd reference, but to me it's very resonant for that type of dynamic where the mother isn't ready to let go. And the paradox with regard to Viridia is everything about her that is so glorious, Cossutia fears is the very thing that will get her killed. And so it's, how do you nurture this child and let them be everything they are, but also steer them away from the perils of this really structured society. And it's really like chutes and ladders, one false step and she could be ruined. The stakes are very high for Cossutia.
WiC: At the end of Episode 4, your characters are caught out in an big action scene when the Cilician pirate attack in the marketplace in Capua. What was it like filming that sequence?
CB: Allan Poppleton, who runs the stunt department, had to prepare really rigorously. Maja {Vrvilo], our director, was so prepared for this episode, and without the two of them, we probably would not have completed. So we were in excellent hands with them. And I think for India and I, it was a really great crucible moment for us to sort of achieve something together. [It] sort of set this trajectory for our characters, and it starts to really inform how the rest of the season plays out for us, and it felt like a really catalytic, galvanizing episode in general, and it had a kinetic energy and a pace to it. It sort of cracked my character open in a way. It makes Cossutia so vulnerable, that I think it opens her up to more humanity in a way as well. So that was really sort of powerful for me, that episode. And also my bond with India personally on and off screen, I think we really sort of saw each other and our ability to find humor, and that was a really beautiful find for me, personally.
ISS: Yeah, couldn't agree more with with Claudia on that. And also I think it's the moment where the show really starts to ramp up, and certainly as an actor to be able to play, just in that one scene, it's such an epic...to be able to play such high stakes and such differing emotions one after the other was so, so exciting to immerse ourselves in. But also, it really marks an interesting point for Viridia because given that she's in such a period of grief and doesn't want to return to the world, she makes the choice just before this to step out of doors. She's been grieving her husband, the death of her husband for almost a year. And so for this to be the first thing that she experiences, you'd think that it could be a thing that just sends her back home forever. But in fact it, I think it really ignites something in her and we really see a change, and for her really to start to question her surroundings and her choices and actually what she wants her story to be.
We'll see what that story holds for Viridia and her mother Cossutia as Spartacus: House of Ashur airs the rest of its run. The series premieres new episodes Fridays on Starz and the Starz app.