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| Scott Adkins in Take Cover Photo: courtesy of Signature Entertainment |
A disillusioned professional assassin who plans to retire after completing one job, only for it all to go pear shaped – it’s a familiar story but it feels fresh and fun in Nick McKinless’ new thriller Take Cover. Part of the reason for that is popular martial arts star Scott Adkins, and the lively rapport that he has with Jack Parr – here the spotter paired with his sniper – with whom he previously co-starred in One Shot. Scott says that he always enjoys his job, but that was definitely part of what led him to choose this role.
“It's one of the things that attracted me to the script, their relationship. Buddy humour. It’s a little bit juvenile as well, but I had a great time working with Jack on One Shot. We got on well off screen very well. And when I was thinking about that character – he's quite a bit younger than me, so that was my only reservation at the time. Is it going to work? But I think it's fine when you see the film. I don't look that old.” He laughs. “He's a great actor, and he's a star in the making. I love working with him. He's a great lad.”
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| Scott Adkins and Jack Parr in Take Cover Photo: courtesy of Signature Entertainment |
We talk about his own character, Sam, and how he gave him the right fighting style.
“It's more about the character and what he's trying to accomplish in the scene,” he says. “It's not like, ‘Oh, I'm going to do this martial art or that martial art.’ A punch is a punch, a kick is a kick. You can dress it up as taekwondo or kickboxing, whatever, it's all the same stuff really. It's just, how does that character fight? Is he more brutal in his attacks? Is he trying not to hurt someone? Is he efficient in Jason Bourne way, or is he someone that's a poser and shows off a bit more with techniques?
“It's all to do with the story and also the tone of the movie. One Shot has a more serious tone, so you want to have the action fit that. Take Cover has a bit more fun in it, so we can be a little bit more outlandish with the choreography.
“You want to keep the audience entertained any way you can, whether it's the action, whether it's a bit of comedy, whether it's a bit of drama, the storyline, you know, everything. You don't want to let the film relax too much. You want to keep throwing things in and you don't want it to be too heavy with action at the beginning and not enough at the end. You need to space it out so the audience feel like they're in good hands and they're not going to get bored.”
Most of the film takes place in just one room, a situation which is always challenging because of the need to keep things interesting visually. How involved was he in planning out the action?
“I'm always very involved, but when you've got people doing it that are very experienced, which we did, I can sit back and concentrate more on the drama. We were rehearsing the dialogue a lot with the actors in the run-up, which was great because by the time we got to set, we're ready to go. But what we needed for this film, because it was so specific to the set, is we needed to block it in the design of the room. But we were waiting for the set to be built and we didn't know exactly what it was going to be until the day of shooting. That was really tricky because we had to make some changes and that was a bit frustrating, to be honest. But, you know, this is filmmaking for you. That's just the way it goes sometimes.”
I ask how the crew got on in that situation, with so little room to move, but he laughs and says that they’re used to it. “As long as they get a nice lunch, they'll get on with it.”
We talk about the challenges involved in making the sniping and gunfights look realistic.
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| Scott Adkins in Take Cover Photo: courtesy of Signature Entertainment |
“Well, you know, we had a lot of people with guns, and obviously, we never had real bullets, but we did use real gunfire inside the penthouse suite, which is great because it always looks better. It's the way the performers react as they're shooting a real gun. You can't fake it. That's what gives the game away. So we used blanks, but what you have to have is good special effects set up around that so that things are exploding in the background because, again, it makes the actor react properly. Something blows here. You've got a flinching, something that's going to be on your face. So for me, I was like, ‘We have to get as much of that practically as we can.’ We couldn't always, but we tried to do as much as we could, and that sells it a lot better.”
In this film, there are also periods where it's quiet in the room and the characters are sitting around talking to each other, anticipating what's going to happen next. It gave him more room than he gets in a lot of his films to focus on dramatic work.
“I love acting,” he says. “I got into the business as an actor that did martial arts. I'll admit that my martial arts was better than my acting at the beginning, but I've always come at it as an actor as much as a martial artist. I love the process. It's like you never crack it. You can do a scene and you can be really happy with it. Then you can drive home and suddenly go ‘Oh, yeah, I should have done this!’” He presses his hand to his forehead. “But it's like this eternal struggle to develop and hone your skill set as an actor and get better. And I tell you, it's a beautiful thing. It's great fun. You get to live out things that would never happen to you in real life, and you get to exorcise certain emotions.
“You can purge yourself of different things, going through the different emotional struggles that a character has. It's rewarding. And at the end of the day, you get to tell stories and to entertain people. For me, that's one of the greatest gifts that you can give to people. If you're entertaining them and giving them that, that's great. I used to watch action movies as a kid. I loved them so much, and I'm privileged to be able to do that for other people. I never rest on my laurels. It's great. I love it. And, you know, it's not all about the action. I love the acting process even more. I mean, the action's hard, and it hurts. So does the acting sometimes. It's painful emotionally, but it's very rewarding.”
I suggest that Sam’s emotional vulnerability helps to keep us concerned about him despite his obvious physical toughness.
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| Take Cover Photo: courtesy of Signature Entertainment |
“Yeah. I mean, I played a lot of wise cracking, smartass types in the past, like the Ken character [played by Parr]. This guy was a bit more vulnerable and going through a bit of a personal crisis and not knowing where he fits in the world. There's a lot going on in his head, and I'm happy with my performance. I think I pulled up off those beats.
“We've all got different sides to our personalities, light and dark. We just have to zero in on those different aspects and imagine being a military guy. I can relate to it in some ways. I've not seen real combat, but as a martial artist I’ve had a few hard sparring sessions. So, you know, it's just your imagination. There's things in your own life that you can draw on. I've played a lot of military guys in the past as well, so I understand these guys. I’ve met a lot as well.”
Offered the chance to share a final promotional message, he slips into the third person.
“Look, it’s the new Scott Adkins film. You know that you've got to watch the new Scott Atkins film, so go and watch it.”
