The German filmmaker Roland Emmerich, who has specialized in spectacle cinema and Hollywood disasters with titles on his resume such as Independence Day, El día de mañana, 2012 or Moonfall, has a project underway on American television: Those about to die, a series of gladiators with Anthony Hopkins on the payroll. And, now that filming begins at the Cinecittà studios in Rome, two unexpected signings have been discovered and in an Iberian key: Eneko Sagardoy and Pepe Barroso will be in the cast.
Sagardoy, 29, and Barroso, 26, are two of the nine additions announced on Monday, among which the hiring of the British Iwan Rheon, known for the sadistic character of Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones, stands out. The cast, which is taking on a very international profile, is completed by the Israeli Liraz Charhi (Tehran), the Icelandic Johannes Haukur Johannesson (Noé), the Englishman Rupert Penry-Jones (Silk), the Portuguese Gonçalo Almeida (Love, love), the Italian-British Kyshan Wilson (Viola) and Italian Alicia Edogamhe, in what will be her first role in front of the cameras.
Those about to die, which could be translated as Those who will die, is based on Daniel Mannix’s book about the world of gladiators in the Roman Empire, from its importance to the corruption around the business. At the moment, it is known that Hopkins, winner of two Oscars, will play the Emperor Vespasian, who ruled the empire in the first century; Charhi will play the Jewish princess Berenice, who played a key role in Vespasian’s coronation; Johannesson will play Viggo, a Nordic gladiator, Wilson will play a gladiator and Edogamhe a slave, while Penry-Jones, Sagardoy, Barroso and Almeida will play three brothers, the Corsi.
The series, which is produced for Peacock, Universal’s streaming platform, is another piece of good news for Sagardoy, who is celebrating 2023: he first made history at the Spanish box office with Irati, the most successful production in Basque to date , and now he adds a Hollywood production to his filmography, although the filming does not take him across the Atlantic. Before Irati and Those about to die, the actor already had a consolidated career with Handia, which allowed him to win the Goya for New Actor in 2018, and roles in Errementari, the Patria series or the Hondar Ahoak murder miniseries.
Pepe Barroso, curiously, had also worked on Patria, only in one episode, and his career seems to be going from strength to strength after starting in 2019 with the failed period drama 45 revolutions: he will be in the horror film Close to You and will have a supporting role in Gran turismo, the film headed by David Harbor (Stranger things), Orlando Bloom (Troy) and Djimon Hounsou (Friendship).
