Striking back with more women

In this age of #MeToo, the Cinemax series is ‘opening up to a broader audience’ with more female characters seen as equals to the male leads, strong and multi-faceted, doing their own stunts and fights.

The men of Strike Back are proud to say that the Cinemax original series has evolved to include more women in the action. Fittingly so, in this age of #MeToo, the spy drama is “opening up to a broader audience” with more female characters, who are seen as equals to the male leads, strong and multi-faceted, doing their own stunts and fights.

That’s according to Strike Back’s returning stars Warren Brown (Luther, The Dark Knight Rises) and Daniel MacPherson (A Wrinkle in Time) when asked what they’ve got to say about the ladies in the series, including co-star since previous season Alin Sumarwata (Neighbours, Burning Man) and new cast member Yasemin Allen (Water and Fire). The STAR and other Asian media were able to interview them during a visit to their set in Malaysia July of last year.

Strike Back also marks a first in its sixth season by featuring Southeast Asia as the backdrop of its high-octane action ­— the reason why this writer found herself in a jungle area in the southernmost city of Johor Bahru to meet the stars. Producer Nuala O’Leary revealed that the Philippines was also considered a location for the shoot (perhaps in a future season?). Nevertheless, Malaysia provided the “variety of looks” needed for Season 6’s mise-en-scene that sees the multi-national special ops team Section 20 — Thomas “Mac” McAllister (Brown), Samuel Wyatt (MacPherson) and Gracie Novin (Sumarwata) — traveling to this part of the world to investigate the crash of a Russian bomber in South China Sea. This led to a covert mission traversing Southeast Asia, with the crew fighting off drug syndicates and warlords along the way, while working to expose a global web of interconnected criminal and terrorist activities.

During the set visit, the press felt like entering a real conflict area amid the welcome of “explosions.” There, we had a closer look at not just the male but also female actors deftly executing stunts and handling the arsenal.

After several takes, Warren and Daniel walked into the tent reserved for the media guests, still in character with their mud-stained army fatigue and all, but cracking jokes and charmingly apologizing for not being appropriately dressed for a presscon. But that was fine. It rendered proof to back the Strike Back stars’ claims that no other military or similarly-themed series “gets to do what we do.”

Strike Back Season 6 will premiere Jan. 26, same time as the US at 11 a.m. with same-day encore at 10 p.m. on HBO GO and Cinemax. Past seasons are streamed on HBO Go and aired every night on Cinemax.

Below is the rest of the interview. 

On how current events figure in the new season’s storyline:

Warren: “At the catastrophic end of last season, I was losing a few members of Section 20, one being our colonel. We went on a bit of a sabbatical and in suspension. When that suspension was lifted, all we know we’re coming to Malaysia because a Russian plane has gone down and a British soldier was killed... The British soldier was investigating something that had to do with this Russian plane going down. So we were brought in to find out what has been taken out from this plane and what happened to that British soldier. When we get to town, we realized the Russians are also in town, trying to do the same (investigation).” 

Daniel: “Strike Back has always been good in marrying storylines with current events. And this season, you’ve got the British, the Americans and a Russian influence in there, trying to work out whose side the Russians are on, are they working with us or against us. And there’s plenty of headlines of Russians in the newspapers these days so... Our story writers are always looking at current events but we’re shooting in Malaysia. The show is not only set in Malaysia but also we’re shooting the show as though it is India, Russia, the Golden Triangle and a couple of other places. In terms of challenges, we’ve come out of a desert in Jordan, we’ve come out of Eastern Europe last year...”

Warren: “I thought we were prepared by working in the desert and working in that heat, but this is a different heat. The humidity. Literally, you get in to the set in the morning and you start sweating and you don’t stop until you get into bed at night.” 

Daniel: “But it’s amazing, Southeast Asia and these parts of Malaysia we’re shooting in, KL (Kuala Lumpur), Penang, Johor, the jungle, the energy is incredible on screen. It looks amazing. The energy of this city in these places gives us an incredible backdrop and this series particularly will look epic as Strike Back always does but in a very unique look.” 

On their preparation for the new season: 

Daniel: “I think last year (2017) was a transitional series for the show obviously, from picking up where Scott and Stonebridge (Seasons 2 to 5 main characters played by Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winchester, respectively) have been left off, and new characters working out. Not only the show has changed and transitioned into its new form, I think the landscape of television has changed. It’s been so important for us to not only have, you know, guys like Warren and myself as part of the lead cast, but bringing in all these incredible actresses and amazingly talented female soldiers and we get more this season than last season. I think Strike Back has evolved that way and I feel like we’re picking up where we’ve left off, but bigger and better than where we’ve left off.” 

Warren: “We hit the ground running. We knew exactly what to expect. We trained; we were comfortable with the weapons. We trained for a month, we had a boot camp in Jordan so you’re familiar already and you’re picking up from where you left off, and we just went straight into it. We didn’t have to set up and we weren’t finding our feet.”

Daniel: “We know who our characters are, we’ve spent 18 months practically living together. What it does, it allows you to do more brain space and (have) more kind of energy to find new stuff in the show as opposed to trying to get the basics right. I think we’re flying man, we’re soaring this year, if I may say so.”

On their favorite scenes and scariest stunts in Season 6:

Warren: “We got to fly around the Petronas Towers and land by a helicopter, the best way to see KL.”

Daniel: “We shot a gunfight in a rooftop in Penang and escaped in a helicopter. We had a bunch of free helicopter rides. Actually, in Penang, we recreated the entire Holi Festival in India. It took me two weeks to get the color off my skin and hair (laughs). I got a cannon of pink dye accidentally fired up my nose (laughs)… I also had this great scene underneath a bridge in Penang, gunfight, it nearly killed me.”

Warren: “Always, in these instances — it goes that fast and you kind of forget it, and only afterwards when you go, oh my gosh, is that what we did?” 

Daniel: “(Do we compete over who has the biggest stunt?) No (laughs). Warren is a two-time world champion in muay thai boxing, so I let him do all the fighting (laughs), I do the shooting and it works out very well all the time. But I can tell you that I’ve got many memories from Strike Back. I don’t need tattoos; I’ve got Strike Back scars… It treads a very fine line. It treads close to the action and the danger, and all those elements. And I think, that sets this show apart and we’re all willingly wanting to tread that line, and come away with a few reminders, a few cuts and scratches, but nothing more serious than that. But it’s a really physical job and I don’t think there’s any job quite like it in the world.”

Warren: “There have been a plethora of scars and stitches and bruises and knocks. That was last year and it was the same this year, we kind of know that going into it, but also we committed to that right from the beginning, kind of part and parcel. Because it’s a super safe set, everything is well-controlled, but when you’re in the scene and you’re giving it your all, the adrenaline rushing in, you do slip but also it makes it real.”

On new cast members Yasemin as Katrina Zarkova, a rogue Russian operative, and Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) as Section 20’s new commanding officer Col. Alexander Coltrane:

Daniel: “Yasemin’s amazing. It was a baptism of fire for her. This show is like a tread running on a maximum pace, so many skills (needed). You have to know everything, from stunt fighting to weapons training to firearms training, and then you have to be a brilliant actor on top of that, and Yas has all those qualities. Yas has to learn Russian on top of that. The amount of skills you need to keep up and well, to just be a part of this show, people don’t realize how much work has been put into it, and Yas is doing a great job. She has committed herself to everything and as a character, it’s another lovely ingredient to the section. So, you got Mac from the UK, myself from the US, Lin from Australia and you throw in this icy but cheeky, but kind of funny Russian personality in there, it’s a really nice mix.”

Warren: “Jamie? The Bamber-nator! He’s great, and Jamie is really another well-established and really well-experienced, lovely, lovely fellow. And great to work with, great off set, and brings something completely new to it and is an authority.” 

On the inclusion of more strong and equally important female characters in the series:

Warren: “(The women in the series) are 100 percent (important). The female characters in this, are right up there, they’re equals, they’re not behind. They’re equally cast. They’re also doing stunts and fights. You should see how Lin was doing with the 50 cal (machine gun). All the other roles, all the female characters are really, really strong and great, great parts.”

Daniel: “I think that’s why we’re also getting so many great guest cast in the show because we do right, multi-faceted, really strong, really interesting villainesses and female characters.”

Warren: “It’s really set in the real world but there’s a heightened element to Strike Back, the villains can be villainess.”

Daniel: “I think everyone would agree that the Strike Back of Season 1, 2, 3... of two guys saving the world are kind of the past now. It’s about a team. It’s about men and women fighting alongside each other. You know, we don’t just want guys watching the show because they want to see the male soldiers running away with guns and killing the bad guys. I want to sit down with my wife and watch it. She wants kickass women in there as well. It’s opening up to a broader audience and I think that’s good thing.”