Star 'devastated' to miss scenes with Anthony Hopkins

Iwan Rheon stars in the Amazon Prime series Those About To Die as Tanex, the boss of the betting underworld

Actor Iwan Rheon agreed to join a TV show about the ancient Roman empire when he saw Sir Anthony Hopkins was also on board - but was devastated not to share any scenes with his fellow Welshman.

Rheon, best known for Game of Thrones, is one of the main stars of a new series, Those About To Die.

He even asked the director if he could appear on screen with Hopkins, 86, a double Oscar-winner, but was turned down.

"I was kind of joking, but I also wasn't," he told Bronwen Lewis on BBC Radio Wales.

It was only when Rheon, 39, from Carmarthen, read the script that he realised he and Hopkins had no scenes together.

"Probably the only character in the whole show that my character doesn't have a scene with - which is devastating," he said.

Anthony Hopkins plays Emperor Vespasian in Those About To Die

Those About to Die is set in Rome in 79 AD, where the population are in desperate need of food and the colosseum is still a building site.

To keep the citizens from rioting, chariot races are held in the Circus Maximus, where the city's elite have a monopoly on the profits.

Hopkins - who is originally from Margam, Neath Port Talbot - plays Emperor Vespasian, while Rheon plays Tenax, the lord of the betting underworld.

Rheon's request for shared scenes to director Roland Emmerich fell on stony ground.

"I initially got the script and then I went through them all really quickly and I realised that my character doesn't have any scenes with the emperor," he said.

"So I obviously went through my initial period of mourning, and then when I got there, I asked Roland if I could have a scene and he said no."

But he was able to visit the set and meet Hopkins while he was filming the Amazon Prime series.

Rheon, who found fame as Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones, said Hopkins was perfect as Emperor Vespasian in Those About To Die.

"I never imagined anyone else doing it. Just to have him in the show is amazing," he added.

When reading the script, Rheon said he enjoyed the pace of the show and playing Tenax.

"One thing I really like about the character is that he is able to operate in every scenario, and how he plays a situation to his own benefit," he said.

"In the underworld he is top dog but when he goes to speak to the emperor's son he has to behave in a different way because he'll be killed immediately.

"Playing those dynamics is really fun."

While critics have compared Game of Thrones to his latest series, Rheon said he did not see many similarities in his characters.

"They are both ambitious and they are both ruthless but Tenax isn't as sadistic.

"He doesn't get any pleasure from it. It's business for him. But I can see where people will draw that comparison.

"As the series goes on he's a very different person than what he appears to be at the start.

"Hopefully by the end of the series people start to root for him," he added.

Bronwen Lewis is on BBC Radio Wales from 12:00 BST on Sunday