What was it like shooting on location at the ruins of Roman cities?
We shot on a lot of different ruins from Egypt to Britain, from France to Turkey. The location that affected me most personally, though, was Pompeii. Pompeii is alive like no other place from the first century. Thanks to the wonderful cooperation we received from the superintendent there and with the help of one of our academic advisors, we were able to enter places that tourists rarely see. Once, I was following our guide down a dark staircase inside a first century villa. At the base of the stairs I almost tripped on a… I felt at the moment like it was a body. It was actually a plaster cast of a body that archaeologists had found in that exact spot when they first excavated the site. It was a man, huddled on the floor, gasping for air, trying to cover his head. I leaned down to look him in the eyes and come face to face with the moment he died. It was a powerful view. Plaster casts of other victims are still in position all around Pompeii. They remind you that the first century was
