Nick Tarabay delves into extreme physical lengths behind Spartacus: House of Ashur's gladiator physique

“Spartacus is extremely demanding,” he explained. “There’s a fat boy in me who loves chocolate and sweets, I love that kind of stuff. So I had to cut all of it out.”

To prepare for the brutal combat sequences the franchise is known for, Mr Tarabay underwent a full gladiator bootcamp after flying to New Zealand for filming.

“We have a month of Gladiator Camp, which is four hours every day,” he said. “Grappling, jiu-jitsu training, boxing, fight weapons training, CrossFit. For a whole month, we’re prepping. By the time we finish, we feel pretty good.”

Despite the intense physical work, Mr Tarabay said the emotional challenge of playing Ashur demanded a different kind of discipline. “As an actor, my job is just to tell a story,” he continued.

“It’s drilling and drilling and drilling and putting myself in uncomfortable places. There’s no way around hard work. That’s all it is.”

The actor admitted he was stunned to discover that Ashur, killed off in the original Spartacus series, would lead a brand-new story more than a decade later.

“I thought it was done. He’s dead. We moved on,” he recalled. “Then almost twelve years later, I get this call from Steve DeKnight. It was one of those moments where dreams do come true. I couldn’t sleep for two years until we started shooting.”

Mr Tarabay believes the new series will challenge fans’ loyalties, as viewers are asked to rethink a character they once loved to despise.

“He provokes emotions,” he said. “When people come to me and say, ‘Man, I f****** hated you,’ I’m like, ‘Great, we connected.’ I don’t want to be ‘alright’. If I triggered you, I moved you.”

While there are parts of Ashur that he says he personally relates to, namely, his determination to survive, Tarabay stressed that his own moral compass is nothing like the scheming gladiator.

“He kills people. I don’t,” he laughed. “But we’ve all manipulated, lied or cheated at some point, just not in life-or-death circumstances.”

Returning to the iconic sets in New Zealand also brought an unexpected wave of nostalgia.

“It looked exactly how I remembered it,” he shared. “It felt like I was transported in time. A holy wow moment.”

Asked whether he feels pressure stepping into a role fans follow so fiercely, Mr Tarabay said that the biggest expectations come from himself.

“I always want to honour the fans. I always want to make sure I deliver. As a lead, you don’t want to mess it up. But that pressure pushes me to work harder.”

And if Ashur were scheming his way through the modern world? Tarabay believes he’d ditch bloodshed for property.

“Real estate,” he said. “He’ll buy a lot of land, take control, start changing laws. People say politics. Too easy. Real estate is power.”

Mr Tarabay's co-star Tenika Davis, who plays the history-breaking gladiator Achillea, echoed the same intensity behind the camera.

The actress revealed that her second-degree black belt helped her withstand the “focus and discipline” required to perfect the physically demanding role, admitting the shield she carried was “heavy” and the sword work took relentless training.

“It’s getting up every day with a clear goal,” she said, adding that Achillea’s power comes not from brute strength, but agility. “She might not be the strongest fighter in the room, but she’s quick and nimble, she’ll always find a way to overcome.”

Spartacus: House of Ashur will premiere on MGM+ via Amazon Prime, with Mr Tarabay promising that fans are in for a series that pushes every character and every muscle to the limit.