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Warren Brown says Strike Back is "hardest job" he's ever done

Photo credit: Sky
Photo credit: Sky

From Digital Spy

Strike Back star Warren Brown, who plays sergeant Thomas 'Mac' McAllister in the action series, has revealed that his role on this series is the "hardest job" he's ever done.

The action-adventure spy series will return for its seventh season in the UK on Thursday, February 28 and the new episodes will follow Section 20's investigation the crash of a Russian jet in the South China Sea.

The show's cast members filmed the 10-episode season in Malaysia and, speaking to Digital Spy, Warren explained that filming this series was particularly difficult, joking that there's a reason not many shows are filmed in the country.

Photo credit: Hal Shinnie - Sky
Photo credit: Hal Shinnie - Sky

"Filming in another country, and in Malaysia – I don’t think you can turn up going, 'Right, we’ve done a season, so it’s going to be fine this year'. Because it’s still going to be equally as hard, and it still continues to be the hardest job I’ve ever done," Warren said.

"Johor was probably the most difficult to shoot in, and it was where we were for the longest. A lot of the stuff in that block was kind of 'jungle' – and it was so hot and so humid, for the entire shoot, really."

He continued: "You'd literally get on set in the morning and be soaking wet through, and that would last pretty much until the end of your day. So there were challenges.

"So as much as it’s difficult, it will look incredible on camera."

Photo credit: Sky
Photo credit: Sky

The Strike Back actor also teased a huge eight-minute one-shot action scene in one upcoming episode which he's particularly proud of.

"There's a particular episode – I think it's towards the end of this series. I’m super, super proud of it, and I think it’s going to look amazing," Warren teased.

"It was written down that: 'This sequence would be known as the gauntlet, and we do not cut.' I’m like, 'Oh, great. Like a one-shot thing. That’ll be cool for a couple of minutes'.

"Turns out that this sequence is about eight to nine minutes long," he continued. "So we had to escape this village, taking on a number of enemy encounters, gun fights, fist fights, and, again, stunts and explosions, and dodging grenades, changing weapons, getting new weapons.

"That was really difficult."

Photo credit: Sky
Photo credit: Sky

The actor added that they rehearsed the shot a few times, and ended up filming it "three or four times" too, saying it got "better and better" each take.

"I don’t think it f**ked up at any point. I think we had plenty of time to rehearse it and go through it," he added. "It had been plotted out by our military advisers and the stunt team. But each time we did it, it just got better and better.

"I think this is one of the most ambitious jobs I’ve ever worked on. And yet they’re constantly pushing it, and seeing what they do next. My only worry is: what the bloody hell do we do next year if we’ve got to start with something like that?"

Strike Back returns to Sky One on Thursday, February 28 at 9pm.


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