Dino Morea will be seen in a negative light for the first time in 'The Empire'. The actor, who referred to the black panther's mannerisms for his character Shaibani Khan, says playing an antagonist has no limitations and that he has the potential to be fantastic.

Talking about his character, Dino in an exclusive chat with IANS shared that since there was not much to refer for his character Shaibani Khan, he chose to watch videos of black panthers.

"I compared my character with a certain animal. We made Shaibani Khan like a black panther. Initially we thought he would be a lion but we settled with a black panther. So, prep was for watching a lot of videos about black panthers," Dino said.

He added: "The way it moves, agility, cunningness and I always had this in the back of my head that whenever he (Shaybani Khan) walked or spoke there was a certain growl and madness which I tried to keep as much as possible. I truly hope people love my efforts."

Directed by Mitakshara Kumar, the series is a fictional saga of a warrior-turned-king based on books by Alex Rutherford.

"It's fiction also to dramatise the story to make the story interesting. We made Shaibani Khan this beautiful antagonist. This mad antagonist, who believes that the throne needs to be earned, it was never inherited. He was against the idea and he has a story about his childhood. Shaibani Khan's childhood and that makes him what he is," Dino shared.

Dino shared that his character "is dangerous, he is a warrior and smart."

"Playing an antagonist has no limitations. You can be mad, you can be grim. Besides that there is no reference to that character 400 years ago, who knew how they acted or behaved so. I think anyone can do with these characters because as long as you can make the audience believe who you are and that's what I did," he said.

The 45-year-old actor-producer is happy to get an opportunity to do something different "after a really long time."

"More than nervousness, I know I have worked really hard for this. I am just excited that people are seeing me in a new way and there's new light. I know I have the potential to be fantastic and I am happy that someone is ready to explore this side of me," he said.

Dino concluded: "Someone has the guts to think of me out-of-the-box. So it's a new concept and idea and people are waking up to that."

'The Empire' will be released on Disney+ Hotstar.