Earlier this week news emerged that Bruno Heller,
creator of HBO's Rome,
was looking to adapt his highly acclaimed (and tragically short-lived) period
drama for the big screen. Yesterday former Rome star Ray Stevenson talked to us
about the prospect of reprising his role as the boisterous, hedonistic, and
occasionally heroic Titus Pullo in the proposed movie, which Heller has hinted
could revolve around the rise of a certain charismatic religious leader:
"Well, when you look at it, people say, 'Oh,
you're going to get into the time of Christ,' but nobody knew it was Christ,
you know what I mean?" said Stevenson. "The Bible wasn't even written
until a hundred years after his passing. And at that time, it wasn't like the
year zero, and then we get to the year 34 or whenever. You're still at the
height of the Roman Empire. In their society,
their system, you've got this emerging religion -- fast-growing, rebellious,
upsetting the status quo of your politics and everything, and challenging the
basis of your religions and gods or whatever, and there's a power struggle.
There's ways of dealing with issues without smashing an egg with a
sledgehammer, but these things are recurrent themes throughout the history of
mankind."
This week, Stevenson stars as cop-turned-vigilante Frank
Castle in Punisher: War Zone. For more of his musings on Titus Pullo as well a preview of his next project, The Book of Eli, check out
our exclusive interview.