14 DAY TRIAL // Andy Whitfield has officially been replaced as Spartacus in Starz’s hit series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” by Australian actor Liam McIntyre, it has been announced. Andy even gave Liam his blessing.
As fans must know, after the first season of the show, Whitfield had to take some personal time while he was being treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Producers waited for him to complete the treatment but, just as they were about to start work on season 2, the actor learned the cancer was back and he needed even more aggressive treatment.
Eventually, Starz decided to do the series without Andy – and Coming Soon is now reporting that Liam has already been welcomed into the “Spartacus” family, by Andy included.
“Australian actor Liam McIntyre is taking over the role of the Thracian warrior sold into slavery in the Roman Republic city of Capua – where he rises to become the champion of the city – before leading the slave revolt that ended Season 1,” Coming Soon writes.
“The part was played in the first season of ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ by Andy Whitfield, who was forced to leave the show due to health issues. Whitfield gave his blessing to the recasting,” the e-zine notes.
In a statement announcing the change, Starz’s honcho Chris Albrecht underlines that, at the end of the day, Andy remains irreplaceable but the show had to go on without him, which is also what he wanted.
“Since no one can really replace Andy, we realized that we should instead find an actor who can truly lead ‘Spartacus’ forward,” the network CEO says in a statement cited by the aforementioned e-zine.
“It was important to us to have Andy endorse the idea of recasting this part, which he did in the same heroic manner that he’s dealt with his whole ordeal. And that, coupled with our fortune in finding a young actor with the gladiator credentials and the acting ability of Liam, makes it easier for us to keep this hit franchise going,” Albrecht adds.
Even so, fans are saying online that “Spartacus” would never be the same without Whitfield and that producers should have waited for him to complete treatment once more instead of finding someone else to play his character.