Tom Rosenthal said he was surprised about “how emotional” he became after filming the final scenes of Plebs: Soldiers Of Rome in Bulgaria and Wales.
The 34-year-old actor reprises his role as Marcus Gallo for the feature length 85-minute special that will premiere on ITVX on December 8.
Rosenthal, who has starred in all five series of Plebs since 2013, said: “It’s very emotional and I was surprised about how emotional I got.
Saw the Plebs finale last night and even though I am in it a lot it is very good. Out in a month pic.twitter.com/9MGoDvvuKG
— Tom Rosenthal (@rosentweets) November 8, 2022
“I cried a lot. When we left Bulgaria. Half the shoot was in Bulgaria and the other half in Wales – I cried.”
He added: “Plebs is my whole life, man. I’ve got nothing else.”
Rosenthal, who found fame playing Jonny Goodman in Friday Night Dinner with The Inbetweeners’ star Simon Bird, returns alongside Ryan Sampson, Jonathan Pointing and co-writer Tom Basden.
The four Plebs join the army in peacetime hoping to win respect, however, war is declared and they are sent to the front line for a cause they don’t believe in.
Rosenthal said: “We had weapons training. I got to wield a sword. I mean, sure, the sword was made safe for my hands, so it looks a lot more threatening than it really was.”
Reflecting on the show, Basden, who also stars in Ricky Gervais’s Netflix series After Life, said: “It has been a big part of all of our lives, especially when we’re filming out in Bulgaria. It’s quite intense.”
The episode will see cameo appearances from The Office star Patrick Baladi as Roman commander General Diomedes, London Kills actor Tori Allen-Martin as warrior queen Barbronelda and Norsemen star Kare Conradi as Barbarian leader Segimundus.
Speaking of Conradi, Rosenthal said: “He’s one of Norway’s premier actors, he gives an incredible turn in our special.
“Hanging out with him was very incredible because he’s like a very refined man, who’s like a theatre actor.”
The new streaming platform ITVX launches on December 8.