Strike Back returns to Cinemax tonight for the most epic season of TV’s best action series. The season is particularly intense for Sgt. Thomas “Mac” McAllister, played expertly by Warren Brown. Mac faces some major decisions about his future in the seventh season, which also happens to be the show’s last. So will he stay on with Section 20? And what can TV viewers expect from the final ten episodes?
Nerdophiles connected with Warren ahead of the Strike Back season 7 premiere to gather intelligence about this season’s mission and discuss what it was like for him to say goodbye to a series, and a character, unlike any other. Check out our interview with Warren Brown below, then don’t miss the return of Strike Back tonight at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Cinemax.
Nerdophiles: What was your reaction to finding out that Strike Back season 7 would be the last season?
Warren Brown: It’s been one hell of a roller coaster ride for three years. I’ve grown to love some of the people I work with and it’s been a hell of a job. So inevitably, it’s tough to finish. However, going into a season knowing it’s the last season, I think it’s brilliant because we can absolutely give it everything and leave nothing unturned.
With Strike Back, we endeavor to get bigger and bigger each year, and we certainly managed to pull it off. I think we’re going out with an absolute humdinger of a show. I think it’s possibly the best season of Strike Back ever.
NP: This is the biggest season ever for you because Mac begins the season having the chance to move his career forward. What’s going through his mind as we start the season?
WB: I think the opportunity to take on new roles and be in charge, take that leadership further, is definitely intriguing. And we’ll certainly explore that as that season goes on.
Mac has always been strong-minded and not afraid to say what he thinks. Certainly, we get him standing up to Coltrane, and sometimes he’s having his own ideas and kind of disobeying orders.
NP: How would you describe Strike Back season 7?
WB: We went in and we just wanted to give the best possible season and try to top what we’ve done…Just knowing it’s the last one, the writing is so much bolder. And we see the team that hopefully by now the audience loves, really, really pushed to their limits.
NP: You faced a unique challenge, reviving Strike Back and building a new Section 20. How do you think of the show now compared to when you started three seasons ago?
WB: The character has evolved over those three years, and certainly the last season, just finding our feet with it…We all work [well] together because we all know each other and there’s a shorthand. That says quite a lot about the directors and the crew, and the writers writing with our voices in mind more, now that we’ve been on the show for a while. And that comes across on screen as well.
NP: We’ve spoken before about how Strike Back is a difficult series to make, and it asks so much of its cast and crew. So aside from Mac’s journey, how have the last three seasons been for Warren?
WB: I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – it’s been undoubtedly the most physically and mentally demanding show I’ve ever done. But I’ve absolutely loved it. Certainly, for Dan [MacPherson, who plays Wyatt] and myself – Dan coming from a professional triathlete background and Ironman background, and myself as a professional fighter – it was the first job that I was able to kind of call upon that previous experience, history, and mindset.
That hopefully kept me in good shape for this kind of regime because, as you say, it was brutal. Everyone just absolutely [worked] their asses off for this job. It’s a wonderful thing to see, and hopefully, everyone’s hard work from every single department comes across on screen and people recognize that.
I did have an opportunity this year. There was a particular [shooting] block early on that I was light in because my next block was going to be busier, and rather than take my rest days, I was like, well, I want to do a bit of shadowing. So I’ve been able to do some second unit directing on the show, which was amazing.
NP: Is there anything, in particular, you’re going to take away from Strike Back now that it’s over?
WB: So many things. So, so many things. It’s been a hell of a job. A job like no other. I think if you’ve done that, you can do anything. I think that’s what I’m going to take away from it. No job will ever be as crazy as Strike Back.
I’ve always been a huge fan of the show. It’s been a privilege and an honor to jump into Section 20 the last few years and carry on that legacy. Mission complete – here we go.
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