There was a moment on the Bulgarian set of 300: Rise of an Empire when a voice from the darkness just off camera distracted Melbourne-born actor Sullivan Stapleton during a scene.
Stapleton, who plays the lead role of Athenian general Themistocles in the follow-up to 2007's $450 million blockbuster, 300, was sweaty, shirtless and wielding a sword at the time.
"Go the Swannys," the voice said.
Stapleton and another Aussie actor on the set, Underbelly star Callen Mulvey, burst out laughing.
The culprit, according to Mulvey, was a third Australian who was lurking away from the cameras, key grip Ian Bird, a veteran of The Matrix and Wolverine films.
"It was around the time of a Hawks and Swans game and Sully is a mad Hawks fan," Mulvey told AAP.
300: Rise of an Empire may have been filmed in Bulgaria, and the story may have been set in 480 BC as the mighty Persian army continues its invasion of Greece, but with Stapleton, Mulvey, Bird, David Wenham and another Aussie crew member on set, first assistant director Toby Pease, Australian sport was a major topic of conversation.
For the actors, it was a welcome distraction.
Just as Gerard Butler and Wenham were put through physical hell to chisel their bodies into Spartan warriors in 300, producer Zack Snyder, who directed the original, wanted the same buffed look for Stapleton and Mulvey.
"It was good," Stapleton said of the workouts.
"It took until I was 35-years-old to find out I had a six pack."
Stapleton, whose big break was the 2010 David Michod film Animal Kingdom, was on the South African set of his TV series Strike Back when the feared fitness trainers for 300: Rise of an Empire came to get him ready for the movie.
"It was about 10 weeks before we started shooting and they came out to Africa," Stapleton said.
"I had to leave that set and go to the gym.
"There were a couple of exercises these guys made up and you'd think that was the workout, but it was just the warm up.
"Then the work out would just go on and on and on."
300: Rise of an Empire is being dubbed an "equal", rather than a sequel as it takes place the same time as the battle in 300 when the Spartans were eventually mowed down by the gigantic Persian army.
The new film follows Stapleton's Themistokles and his small naval force, including Mulvey as Scyllias, taking on Artemisia, the commander of the Persian navy, at sea.
French actress Eva Green enjoyed playing the vengeful Artemisia.
"She has no conscience," Green says of her character.
"She is almost kind of a psychopath in some way."
Green also enjoyed the Aussie men on the set, including Stapleton who she describes as "the funniest guy I have ever met".
"He doesn't take himself seriously and you can't keep a straight face with him, but he's also so intense and very animal.
"He has those eyes.
"They are kind of hypnotic and they kind of go straight to your soul."
One memorable scene involved a meeting between Themistokles and Artemisia that turned into a sex scene.
Asked how Stapleton handled the scene, Green smiled.
"Men are always more scared than women for sex scenes, for good reason," she said.
"It was like a fight scene.
"That's why it was less daunting than usual sex scenes because it was choreographed and you knew exactly what to do.
"It was two warriors having sex."
300: Rise of an Empire opens in Australia on Thursday.
