Photo: Lisa Smith
Stargate’s Vala Mal Doran is headed for the ancient Roman empire. Actress Claudia Black has been cast in Starz’s new sequel series Spartacus: House of Ashur, which will see the return of actor Nick Tarabay in the lead role of Ashur.
The Farscape and Stargate SG-1 veteran will play Cossutia, described as “a politician determined to keep Ashur in his place and is constantly plotting his downfall.”
Deadline reports that Graham McTavish (Outlander), Tenika Davis (Jupiter’s Legacy), Jamaica Vaughan (Home and Away), Ivana Baquero (Pan’s Labyrinth), Jordi Webber (Choose Love), India Shaw-Smith (The Pines Still Whisper), and Leigh Gill (Joker) will round out the main cast, along with Black.
Black played the thief with a heart of gold Vala Mal Doran on Stargate SG-1. After her debut in the show’s eighth season she returned in a recurring role in Season Nine, and joined the regular cast for the show’s tenth and final year.
Here’s how the network describes the newest entry for Spartacus:
Spartacus: House of Ashur is a history-bending, erotic, thrilling, roller-coaster experience that builds on everything that made the original series a colossal hit. The series poses the question: what if Ashur, played by fan favorite Nick Tarabay, hadn’t died on Mount Vesuvius at the end of Spartacus: Vengeance? And what if he had been gifted the gladiator school once owned by Batiatus in return for aiding the Romans in killing Spartacus and putting an end to the slave rebellion?
Starz’s original Spartacus ran from 2010 to 2013. Four series ran under the subtitles Blood and Sand (2010), Gods of the Arena (2011), Vengeance (2012), and War of the Damned (2013). Original series writer Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil, Jupiter’s Legacy) is returning as showrunner and executive producer of House of Ashur.
Since the original Spartacus Tarabay’s credits include the likes of The Expanse, Arrow, Person of Interest, Stargirl, and Burn Notice.
The 10-episode series is now in production in New Zealand.
Thanks to Platschu for the tip!