Strike Back brings the action to Asia

BANGKOK — The Cinemax Original action series Strike Back is back for its fourth and final season, debuting tonight at 10 on HBO GO and on Cinemax.

December of last year, HBO Asia organized a set visit to this city for the regional media to meet the lead stars Sullivan Stapleton (300: The Rise of an Empire) and Philip Winchester (24: Live Another Day), who play the dynamic duo of Damien Scott and Michael Stonebridge, respectively, of the elite British special forces unit called Section 20.

After shooting on location in South Africa, Hungary and the UK since the birth of the high-octane series in 2010, Strike Back comes to a close in Asia, as Scott and Stonebridge take on a missing-persons case in Bangkok. But what originally appears as a simple kidnapping, they will soon uncover as simply the tip of the iceberg — a conspiracy hatched by a vast and vicious network of global terrorists.    

The STAR caught up with Sullivan and Philip during the filming gaps at the Bangkok City Air Terminal’s Makkasan Station and the Soi Cowboy district near Sukhumvit Road. For fans, the buddy-cop bond of Sullivan and Philip’s characters is the major draw of the series, and it wasn’t hard to see how it has spilled off-screen for the Australian Sullivan and the American Philip. During the interview, the two couldn’t help but turn wistful as the actors talked about working on what promises to be an “epic epilogue.”

On filming the fourth and final season of Strike Back:

Sullivan: “It’s kinda sad.”

Philip: “Yeah, it’s sad. It really is. It was weird, isn’t it?”

Sullivan: “Yeah… It’s a really good show. I love it! It’s an exciting job. So, it’s a shame to see it end. And god knows what’s gonna happen after the show ends.”

On how they clicked on and off-screen:

Sullivan: “Phil and I clicked instantly with our roles and with each other. I don’t know, the scenes went really well. Obviously, it went really well ‘cause we’re here. It’s been an honor to work with him every day. I still love it.”

Philip: “There’s a lot of trust, isn’t it? We were doing a scene at the beginning of the year with (American actor/martial artist Will Yun Lee, one of the guest stars in Season 4), he’s another brilliant actor whom we had the honor of working with and the privilege of getting on our show. And we did this scene when we were arguing and fighting and things like that, and Will was in the scene with us. And he walked out after us and said, ‘How long did you guys rehearse that?’ And I said, ‘Oh no, we just did it this morning. We just got it. We just learned the lines and just came in and did it because we know each other.’ He said, ‘Wow, that doesn’t happen that easy. It takes a long time to build that trust.’ … That’s the way it is. We locked out.”

On Strike Back’s brand of action:

Philip: “Strike Back has brought back that ‘80s action genre where you see the guys doing the stunts… We’re not wearing a pristine suit, or we’re not absolutely clean as a whistle. We’re banged up, we’re hurt, we’re shot, we’re dirty. They’re bringing back that element of masculinity in film and television. We’re not metro sexual guys running around. We get banged up, we get hurt, we’re pretty ugly sometimes in a scene (laughs). And that’s just the way the show is. And I think that’s just a really great thing to see on television. To see real people doing real stuff. And then there are no cuts in the stunts.

“It is pretty authentic. I don’t know, I think there are always people who’ll say, there will  never be anything like that. And then someone always younger, stronger and better-looking and they’ll come in and do it. So, we’ll see. But for now, I think we’ll let Strike Back kind of finish its course. It hasn’t come out yet and finished yet. So we’ll see what happens when it finishes. But it’s certainly, you know, a really neat show to sit down and get by.”

On how they’ve grown as actors through the show:

Sullivan: “(We’ve grown) fat (laughs). For one thing, we’ve learned a lot. We’ve been trying to act like real soldiers, to handle the weapons and to work as a group. And in that respect, I don’t think I could have learned more as an actor. And then also, we’re training. Not only did they train us to be soldiers but they also trained us in the gym, which did help because we worked very hard every day. We’re fighting, running, driving cars, jumping out of choppers, fighting on top of trains, riding motorbikes, etc. And throughout the strength of that training we don’t get hurt, which is, I think you can kinda tell that when a few actors have come on… When we start fighting and they get hurt or they can’t run that fast… and they’re like, ‘How many times do I have to do this?’ I’m like, ‘Just keep running, dude. We’ll get killed if you don’t keep running (laughs).’

“And also, I guess the friendships and the family that developed over four years. We’ve done this every year. You know, seven months every year. In that respect, the strength of friendships has grown. And it’s been a joy to come back to work every year. And then start again and get back into it.”

On guest stars like Malaysian superstar Michelle Yeoh in Season 4:

Sullivan: “Well, she’s phenomenal. I didn’t have that many action scenes as she did.”

Philip: “And that’s I think, one of things that, again raises the show… You know, you got the stunts, the action, you got all the stuff, but if you don’t care about the characters, if there is no emotional connection, then it’s just a mindless action show. We might as well be robots up there. But because we have these amazing guest stars coming in and they actually sort of... they get range, I mean we’re here the whole time. But these guest stars come in and they’ve been given the material for only a few weeks, and they run with it. So, without the brilliant guest stars, the show would have died a long time ago. So we’re indebted to the people who’ve come in and done guest roles. They’re really great.”