Making His Mark
Playing Octavius in Xena's fifth season was an eye-opener for Mark Warren. As the Kiwi actor tells Ian Rentoul, the experience was one he’ll look back on fondly for a long time to come...
Official Xena Magazine: Issue 17
The Roman Empire and its leaders have been a thorn in Xena's side since her first encounter with Julius Caesar. The death of Caesar and the ensuing political vacuum brought with it civil war and the deaths of Brutus and Marc Antony. But a new leader was to emerge, Augustus, who would be one of Rome's greatest emperors.
When we first meet Augustus in Antony and Cleopatra, he is a young, ambitious but honest Roman named Octavius, a far cry from the powerful emperor he is to become 25 years on. Xena and Gabrielle develop a friendship with Octavius which results in them entrusting the safety of Xena's daughter, Eve, into his hands (in Looking Death in the Eye) in order that she might be saved from the Olympian Gods.
It was up to talented New Zealand actor Mark Warren to bring the young Roman to life. “I grew up hugely influenced by music and the arts,” Warren reveals of his initiation into acting. “My mother was an amateur actress, so I went along to the theatre at a very young age. And my father is a lead guitarist, so I would always be going off to band practice with him as well. So acting was almost a calling. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
So how did the actor get the part of Octavius? “I was asked to go along to just the usual type of audition,” explains Warren, who has made several guest appearances on Xena and Hercules before, but none of them as significant as Octavius. “The audition script I had to read was four pages long and was taken from a draft of Looking Death in the Eye.
“I had two scenes to read at the audition,” Warren recalls. “The first was the one on the beach at the end of Looking Death in the Eye, when Xena and Gabrielle have fallen down the cliff with the cart and Octavius comes along and meets Joxer. The other scene was actually cut from the episode and wasn’t in the final script when I came to do the part. They changed it because it had originally given Octavius a bit more of an arrogant streak, and I think they wanted to get rid of that.
“Xena was my first paid professional television work,” Warren reveals. “There was no great lead up to it, so when my agent told me that I was confirmed for the role, I asked him what that all meant, because I didn’t quite understand. It was quite a shock, but at the same time it was fantastic!”
Warren prepared for the part of Octavius by doing some research into the life of his alter ego before filming the shows. “I went down to the local library and got lots of books about the way the Romans rode their horses, their equipment and how they spent their days,” he recalls. “I also read up on the life of Octavius so that gave me some nice insights to focus on.
“I already had an interest in the period fron my classical studies at school. So I read up on both the history of Rome and also Greece, because Xena is a gelling of both. I actually had the books for quite a long time,” he admits, adding sheepishly, “when I took them back, I had to pay a fine! But I really enjoyed reading about all that again and refreshing my memory on what I did at school.”
Warren admits that he was given free reign to interpret the character as he saw fit. “It was basically left up to me how to play Octavius, but the directors, Garth Maxwell [Looking Death in the Eye] and Michael Hurst [Antony and Cleopatra], had a little input. They both had slightly different ideas. Garth gave me a few pointers but let me do things myself a bit more, while Michael was more energetic and in your face, and drew things out of me. Both were very good but very different in their approach to the job. Xena is a fairly fast moving show; you don’t really have time to do too much on set, so I had to do all the groundwork before I turned up.”
Viewers will recall that there have been two incarnations of Warren's on screen alter ego; while Warren played the young Octavius, Colin Moy played Emperor Augustus, seen 25 years later, in the episode Livia. “I would have loved to have met Colin,” Warren enthuses. “I haven’t even seen Livia yet, so I’d like to see what happens. I know that Augustus falls in love with Eve, so I would like to have seen how the story develops. Actually,” he adds thoughtfully, “I was gutted about missing out on that episode after I saw a picture of the woman who was playing Eve!”
As a Kiwi actor, Warren naturally had an interest in and knowledge of Xena prior to starring in the show. “I’d seen Xena before getting the role,” he admits. “I’d watched it now and again about four years ago, but when I got the part, I hadn't seen it for a long time because we don’t get it on television here very often.”
Were there any other roles in Xena that Warren would like to have played given the opportunity? “I’d like to have played Kevin Smith’s role, Ares,” he reflects. “I think that one is awesome. I like the bad guys, but realistically, I like all roles, especially coming from a theatre background where you play old men, young men, women... You thrive on the change, and every part offers its own challenges. I don't want to be a good guy all the time, that's for sure!”
Warren admits that working on Xena was a challenge. “I was on set for about four days for each of the episodes I was in,” he explains. “The longest day I had on set was from about 6.30 in the morning until 7.30 in the evening. That was the day on which I filmed both my first and last scenes of Looking Death..., which was fantastic. But the length of my day on set would usually vary.
“There was one occasion when I was only on set for about four hours. But I could have stayed there all day every day, because it was such a great place to be. For Antony and Cleopatra, we had some night shoots to do on the battleship. That was filmed in an entirely different location from the rest of the episodes, and about six weeks later.
“All the land scenes were filmed along the coast towards Maori Bay, which is where we did the beach scene [in Looking Death in the Eye]. The shoot on the boat was done to the north of Auckland off the coast, in the area of Wenderholm Regional Park.
“It normally works out that you get your script about a week before you start shooting,” Warren reveals, “but at that stage, it’s only a draft of the final version and not the finished product. So when you have the read-through you might do some cuts here or there and then maybe cut and add things right up until the minute you start shooting. There's no real rehearsal time like there would be if you worked on a feature film. You read through the lines and walk through the movements so that the technical people know what you are going to be doing, and then you go for it. So you have to be very prepared with your lines and know what you're going to do and what you want to achieve in a scene before you even walk onto the set.”
Warren found it fairly daunting going into such an accomplished show with an established and respected cast and crew. “I walked into this building and then had to find the right room,” he remembers. “I was the first one there and I sat down at this huge table. Then all of a sudden I watched one megastar after another walk in. I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ But it was lovely. They are all very friendly people; I felt totally comfortable with everyone.
“The read-throughs were fun. They try to ham it all up a bit and run through things to see if they work or not. As it was the first read-through I’d been to, it took a while to get over the fact that sitting at the other end of the table were Lucy [Lawless] and Renee [O’Connor]. All that took about half an hour to sink in, and then after that I was just another actor like everybody else and got down to business.
“I got on with everybody really well and they had a laugh with me, which is the best way to be. I think I provided a lot of humour on set - not intentionally, but purely by accident. For example, the big horse ride on the beach [in Looking Death in the Eye] was only my second ever time on a horse, so I was still freaking out about it a little and was galloping along and then I stopped the horse just out of shot, but he stopped too quickly and I went straight up in the air! About five people rushed up to help me, but I managed to spin the horse around with one leg in the air and land safely. Everybody was just cracking up and laughing so I think I provided more humour than I actually intended to!
“By the way,” he adds, “working with animals and babies at the same time is not recommended!
So does Warren have any behind-the-scenes anecdotes concerning the main cast members? “I remember Ted Raimi saying, ‘I’m gonna get you’,” Warren laughs. “But thankfully he never did, and we had a good time together. He’s a really nice guy and is great to work with.
“It was fantastic working with Lucy and Renee. I admire them both. They made me feel like just another fellow actor. I suppose I went into the room thinking they wouldn’t be that kind and friendly but they were amazing to work with and Lucy was extremely down to earth and just like any other Kiwi. Lucy and Renee were always very giving, and if they had time we would sit down and talk about the scenes beforehand.
“I had some lovely experiences with Renee,” Warren recalls. “We tried a few acting techniques before a scene, which was very memorable. Establishing a connection between actors should be mandatory, and because this was my first television experience, it was great to work with people who were so giving. I have nothing but admiration for them.”
Like many actors, Warren says he would like to try his hand at both directing and writing, “but not for about 20 years! I’d like to do both film and stage,” he admits. “I’d also like to do some theatre because I’ve predominantly starred in classical plays. I’d like to focus on bringing some new theatre and television into the world. I think a lot of theatre is focused on the past, whereas it should deal with the issues that we’re facing in today’s troubled world.”
Whatever Warren takes away from his experiences on Xena, he will first and foremost always remember the cast and crew of the show for their professional behaviour and welcoming attitude towards new cast members. “Everybody makes you feel like somebody,” he acknowledges. “They treat you very well on set, and the crew are just fantastic. Everybody works so hard it’s unbelievable. Those guys just live and breathe the show. I couldn’t believe it. I’d be there at 5.45 in the morning, they were all there before me and they’d all be there when I left. So I have a huge admiration for them and their commitment to the whole thing.
“Xena is a very well-oiled machine. Anyone who’s had the privilege of working with these people will remember it for the rest of their lives as a really special experience.”