It hard not to be a little taken by Peter Mensah, the striking 6′ 3 1/2″ actor who was born in Ghana and raised in Britain and Canada. Not surprisingly, he is frequently cast as someone authoritative, like the military officers he played in The Incredible Hulk and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles.

Now he’s in perhaps his highest-profile role yet, that of Doctore, the kick-ass, but mysterious trainer at the gladiator school in Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Last summer, at a press event promoting the series, I ran into Mensah. I hadn’t yet seen any of the finished product, but I couldn’t resist pulling him aside for a few questions.

Question: What will viewers be most surprised to learn about Doctore this season?

Peter Mensah: The biggest question mark will probably be, “What’s his story?” And it does evolve very interestingly. It starts in a certain manner, and as the series evolves, [co-creator] Steve [DeKnight] has a really interesting, sort of onion peel way to get to what his story really is.

And by the end of the season, you’ll find it opens the door to a very, very interesting character.

Q: You’re working with a lot of people who have all worked together on previous projects, like Xena: Warrior Princess. What’s it like for you, coming in new and working with folks who are so tight?

PM: One of the great aspects is actually when you get included in a family. They’ve gone out of their way to make me feel really comfortable.

It’s a nice thing to suddenly recognize that you’ve been recognized. They trust your work. They hired me without auditioning. They basically put in a call. It was a choice between this and [another project], and this won, hands-down!

Q: Since CGI is such an important part of the show, how different is the finished product from what it’s like for you on the set?

PM: It’s very different, but that’s the key to green-screen work. It was the same on 300 [in which Mensah also had a role]. I remember seeing the initial renderings, and then watching the process, and then a few months later, seeing finished product.

So you work with the knowledge that there will a lot more done, and it’ll look fleshier by the time that it’s done. You work in a sort of stark environment typically, and it really requires to trust everyone to get it done.

I’m thrilled with the way it’s turned out.

Q: There must be so much to keep track of. Do you or the director ever have to sacrifice the performance a bit in order to get something technically right?

PM: No, because if the performance doesn’t work, ultimately it’ll actually unseat the piece. So we’ve all had an understanding that no matter what we do, the performances actually cement the work itself.

No concerns that way at all.

Q: So you’ve set up shop in New Zealand [where the show is filmed]?

Peter as "Messenger" in 300

PM: Well, I’ve taken an apartment, but there hasn’t been much time to much except work at this point. Five months, a month of training, four months of shooting, and a little bit more to go.

Q: A lot of people are making parallels between Ancient Rome and modern-day America. Do you think that’s a part of the show?

PM: I think the understanding really is that there is no issue that’s original. The Roman Empire was built on slavery. A privileged class versus on an underclass. This is nothing new. You can always find references to the modern-day situation in something like this.

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