The death of cancer-stricken actor Andy Whitfield inspired the cast and crew of Spartacus: Vengeance to "pull together" and "do him proud" as they filmed the second season of the gladiator series, according to his replacement Liam Mcintyre.
MCIntyre stepped into Whitfield's shoes earlier this year (11) for the second season of the TV show after the Spartacus: Blood and Sand star was forced to quit the show to undergo treatment for cancer.
He lost his battle against non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in September (11) and MCIntyre admits everyone working on the series was devastated to hear of the Brit's passing.
Recalling the moment the show's staff learned of Whitfield's death, MCIntyre says, "That (their reactions) was probably the saddest things (sic) I've ever seen in my whole life."
But the upsetting news unified the entire cast and crew and made them more determined to honour Whitfield in style.
MCIntyre tells AccessHollywood.com, "I think everyone was really excited to do the show and try and do him proud and really get in there and keep making the show...
"It was cool to see everyone pull together and say, 'This gives us a reason to do an even better show because we’ll give him that if we can'."
The U.S. series was renamed Spartacus: Vengeance for the second season, which is due to air on the Starz channel in January (12).