Stapleton, Winchester strike back

MANILA, Philippines - You cannot fake adrenaline rush, says Sullivan Stapleton, one of the lead action stars in Cinemax’s first scripted original primetime action series, Strike Back, which will premiere on April 20 at 9 p.m.

Thus, if the scenes on Strike Back appear credible and all-too real, it’s because Stapleton and his sparing partner, Phillip Winchester did their own stunts and fight scenes.

One of the fist-pumping scenes from season one saw Stapleton and Winchester fleeing a massive fireball from a bomb explosion. Both action heroes pirouette and leap from the blast, acting out the scenes in real time and displaying pure adrenaline rush. No doubles, no green screen.

“When you ask people if they did their own stunts, they’d say they did everything, but most of that is bullshit. In Strike Back, I can say that we really did all of those stunts, every bit of those stunts, we did,” Stapleton tells The Star in an exclusive phone interview, together with Winchester, from Los Angeles recently.

Stapleton, who plays the role of Damien Scott, a charismatic former US Special Forces operative who was called back for a mission, says he and Winchester went through an arduous training to prepare for their roles.

Winchester shares they actually had a military training for the show.

“We had a round of military training in the beginning of the show. We had on-the-spot, 24-hour supervision by SAS and Delta Force soldiers. They’re the real deal and helped us walk through what would happen.

“We had a close-to-a-real depiction of what really happens out there. Instead of a dangerous kind of action for the sake of action, it was, we made a really conscious effort to make sure the stuff was believable and real as possible. The kind of language that we used, the way we spoke to each other and handled ourselves in the field, boil to real-life training and a lot of stuff we learned.”

Strike Back revolves around the adventures of two members of a counter-terrorism unit called Section 20, an elite military black ops unit within the British government that focuses on high-risk, top-priority targets.

The second season takes off when a resourceful international terrorist group plots an attack and enlists Scott’s help to stop them.

Winchester plays the role of Sgt. Michael Stonebridge, Section 20’s top man.

Together, Stapleton and Winchester outshoot, outfight and outthink the international terrorists and save the day.

Stapleton shares that they had an intensive, almost masochistic physical training that involved lots of physical toil.

“We worked out a lot, we ran a lot, we ate a lot of chicken. We did a lot of weapons training, too. It was hard but it was fun,” says Stapleton.

The first season earned rave reviews and was described by the Los Angeles Times as a “show that shoots high with plenty of action and thrills and a simmering bromance that’s fun to watch.”

Stapleton says that if their chemistry onscreen was great, it’s because off-screen, he and Winchester have a good rapport.

“Phillip and I get along very well. We’re different boys but professionally, we jibe. We have a ball every day. We support each other. On Strike Back, we have a nice collaborative environment. Filming the series was very good and so much fun,” he says.

Stapleton guarantees that Asian fans will love Strike Back season two even more and will keep them at the edge of their seats.

The series will also feature panoramic locations in Hungary and South Africa where Strike Back was shot.

Stapleton, who auditioned for the role, earned his first Academy award nomination for his role in Australia’s Animal Kingdom. He became well known early in his career for his role in Neighbours, a hit TV series in his native Australia. His next film was The Hunter with Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Frances O’ Connor. Stapleton also starred in December Boys, Darkness Falls, Underbelly Files: Infiltration, Sea Patrol, Carla Cametti PD and Satisfaction.

He counts Sean Connery and Ryan Gosling as his favorite actors and Modern Family as his favorite show.

Winchester, on the other hand, is a veteran actor, having starred as the lead character in NBC’s Crusoe and recently played Frank Stanton in Fringe and Loentes in Camelot. A talented stage actor, he received rave reviews as Edmund opposite Ian Mckellen in King Lear. He also starred in Flyboys with James Franco, Thunderbirds, Maneater, Warehouse 13 and the miniseries Alice.

The series also stars Amanda Mealing, Eva Birthistle, Rhashan Stone, Jimi Ministry and Richard Armitage.

Strike Back is a Cinemax presentation in association with British Sky Broadcasting Limited.

According to Karen Lai, communications director of HBO Asia, Strike Back is the first Cinemax original series that has been produced for Cinemax.

“Strike Back fits in perfectly on Max, a channel that is fully loaded with action, suspense, science fiction programs targeted at men and packs entertainment with a bold, honest and unapologetic attitude,” Lai said.