Diksha Sundriyal
Ancient Rome was a wild, wild place. If you want to know just how chaotic it could get, Peacock’s ‘Those About to Die’ delivers a ten-hour extravaganza with politics, revenge, power plays, and, more importantly, lions. Set in the first century AD, the series focuses on the reign of the Flavians, especially with Emperor Vespasian on his deathbed and his two sons vying to be his successors and indulging in a brutal game that will end in bloodshed. Amongst this, we also follow the stories of the gladiators who are killed for entertainment, and sometimes lions are thrown into the mix. The lion and other animals in the show look so real that one is bound to wonder whether they were really on the set or if it is just great CGI.
The Animals in the Show are Largely CGI
Recreating ancient Rome for television required a lot of work, and while the show-makers built elaborate sets to get that vibe, they had to rely on CGI to do the rest of the job. When it comes to the animals on the show, they heavily relied on digital imagery to get the desired effect. While most of the scenes with horses, especially where the horses are not racing, were with real animals, the action scenes were a different ballgame entirely. Most of the scenes regarding lions in the show feature actor Moe Hashim, who plays Kwame, a Numidian lion tracker forced to become a gladiator.
He revealed that all the scenes where Kwame or some other character goes face to face with the beast and has to fight it to save their lives were filmed with one of the crew members sitting in for the animal. The actor joked that it would often seem funny to him fighting with a guy in front of him while imagining it was a lion, but he knew this was the only way that they could have filmed those scenes.
Hashim also said that while CGI was used to make the lion in post-production, real animals were also brought on set while filming and prepping for some scenes. He mentioned that on his first day on the set, he saw various animals in cages. There were two lions, two wolves, a jaguar, a tiger, and an owl. While they were in cages for safety purposes, Hashim felt a bit nervous being in proximity to them.
One of the things about Kwame’s character is that he has a spiritual connection with animals, and he feels bad about their confinement and their use in killing other gladiators for the public’s entertainment. He apologizes every time he is forced to hurt them. For Hashim, presenting this side of Kwame was the most challenging because Hashim himself feels a bit scared around animals. However, for the story, he had to film a few scenes and spend some time in their vicinity on the set. He described it as a memorable experience that he will not forget soon because it pushed him to go beyond his fears and do something he never imagined he would. He also revealed that in exploring Kwame’s connection with animals, he tapped into a different side of himself and learned about himself in the process.
Read More: Those About to Die: Are Marsus and Antonia Based on Real People?
