Domina star Kasia Smutniak praises Sky show's feminist take on history: 'Half the story is missing'

In Sky's Domina viewers will understand a different side to history, about the women who have been largely left out of textbooks and whose absence from them has meant we only know "half the story" of civilisation, Kasia Smutniak tells Yahoo UK.

Smutniak portrays Livia Drusilla in the historical drama, which charts her character's rise to power as the wife of Roman emperor Augustus, or Gaius (Matthew McNulty). Livia is determined to exact her revenge for the death of her father and to fulfil his final wish of restoring the Republic of Rome, while also ensuring her children's succession in the years to come.

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The actor praised the show's feminist take on history, saying that "knowing more about Livia Drusilla is knowing more about our story" as a society, while discussing the drama's second season.

"The history of Ancient Rome — which is the basis of our civilisation — has only [been told] from one point of view, from a man's point of view, and I think this is also the main gap that we have today because half of the story is missing," Smutniak says.

"It's not only about Livia, it's about women in general in that [lived then]. How difficult it was for them to survive in that society, what it means to be a woman, and through the story of Livia we have a possibility to get to know a little bit more about ourselves... I think knowing more about Livia Drusilla is knowing more about our story."

Of the real Livia Drusilla, she adds: "There was so little about her in books, there was really nothing.

"I remember when I went to the library where I live in Rome, and I asked the librarian to give me anything they had about Livia Drusilla.

"She came back to me saying, 'there is some pages here in this biography of Augustus, and some other pages in this biography of Tiberius, and there is this book about Ancient Rome and women... but there's so little about Livia Drusilla, and when you think about it it's just crazy."

Smutniak's co-star McNulty agreed with her sentiment, and tells Yahoo UK that it is a "privilege" to be part of a show that is able to lift up a woman's story, and depict history from a female perspective.

"It's always a privilege to be on a show that does something other than entertain, at the end of the day that's the main goal of a show: to entertain," he explains.

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"But, with this addressing that imbalance in historical dramas, and entertainment generally, there's a whole raft of history, not just the Roman history, which is patriarchal and the history books have been written by men.

"When you think of history your instant thought is Ancient Rome, and it's nice to be in that kind of staple environment of history books [but] told through a female perspective and starting to redress that balance, because there's going to be loads of stories that have not been told.

"[History books are] generally written hundreds of years after the period anyway and then they're re-written so there's no true accuracy... so I think it's brilliant that we can now make our own interpretations of little scraps of information there are of great historical women and just raise them up. I do feel like it's definitely a privilege to be part of that."

What's to come in Domina Season 2

The second season of Domina finds Livia and Gaius three years after the events of the first season, in which Livia killed her husband's heir Marcellus in order to protect her and her sons. Having spent their time away travelling, the pair return to Rome to find the city in complete disarray.

As well as restoring order Livia will have to contend with trying to secure her sons' position as Gaius' heirs, while also contending with her husband's wondering eye. With everything at risk, Livia must use all of her cunning and wits to keep control or risk losing her chance at avenging her father.

Smutniak reflects on the dynamic between Livia and Gaius in forthcoming episodes, teasing: "The relationship gets to a different level, and the most surprising is that I don't know where I'm going with this character.

"It is really hard to understand someone that sits in a position of Livia, yet she truly loves Gaius. He's her biggest fear and and her life without him seems impossible, and life with him also seems impossible."

The bond is quickly fraying between Livia and Gaius, particularly over the death of his former heir, as McNulty adds, "The level of mistrust between them is probably at its peak, it settled down a little bit at the beginning of this series but then it starts to bubble up again, and both start plotting and scheming in their own ways.

"They both want a bit of pain, I think, and the pain that they thrive on more than anything is the pain that they inflict on each other.

"That definitely cooks throughout the series, and the fact they're not together as much just makes that a little bit hotter so when we do have scenes together it felt like they had more at stake, there was more edge and a bit more passion."

He adds, "She's his equal in scheming and plotting, and there is a constant chess match between them too so when it feels like she's not playing to the level that he's at, and taking the risks that he's taking, then Gaius needs to find a bit of excitement elsewhere."

Smutniak describes the new season as "very exciting" but for her the most important thing it has done is to change her perspective on life and her understanding of society.

"This whole story about Livia gave me the possibility to take time to deeply analyse and think about us women and the moment that we are in now," the actor says.

"What are the roots of misunderstanding and the gap that we have still in society, where all the difficulty has come from. Why is it hard? Why do we have to struggle this much? Where are the roots of this?

"Well now I know it started in Rome... it brings the feminism to a different level, honestly."

Domina Season II will launch on Sky Atlantic and NOW from Wednesday, 13 September.

Watch the trailer for Domina season 2: