EastEnders star Ross Kemp has revealed that something of a siege developed on the set of his latest production. The 39-year-old, who used to play tough guy Grant on the small screen, has taken on the role of slave-master Chinna in a remake of the historical epic Spartacus.
The film tells the story of a slave who led a rebellion against the Roman Empire. And it seems to have been a case of life imitating art, as Ross says the actors playing slaves didn't get on with those playing Romans. The Albert Square hardman even went so far as to describe some of his co-workers as "complete idiots".
During filming in Bulgaria, Ross hit it off with ER star Goran Visnjic, who takes the title role. But he was rather disappointed when the centurions and legionnaires failed to live up to their reputation for decadence.
"They were generally playing Romans," he says. "Honestly the Romans were complete plonkers and the really down-to-earth, nice people were playing the slaves. So in the bar in the Sofia Hilton, you had the Romans at one end and the slaves at the other. And the Romans would go to bed at 10.30pm with a glass of hot milk and a biscuit."
Photo: © Alphapress.com
