No easy way for Warren Brown to say goodbye to ‘Strike Back’

From left: Daniel MacPherson, Brown and Alin Sumarwata in “Strike Back”

It’s hard to treat the last season of Cinemax’s action-packed series “Strike Back” with merely a shrug or a satisfied grin, especially after having followed its continually evolving characters for seven long seasons. And certainly not after sitting through screeners of Season 7 (“Vendetta”), which is currently being telecast Saturdays at 11 a.m. on Cinemax and HBO Go (with same-day encore at 11 p.m.).

So, it was a thrill to speak to Warren Brown, who has been with the show since 2017, as the series was on its run-up to two of this season’s most memorable episodes (Episodes 5 and 6).

Getting us more invested in the show’s must-see final season is the fact that we actually visited Warren and his costars Daniel MacPherson, Alin Sumarwata and Yasemin Kaye Allen on the set of Season 6, known to avid fans as “Revolution,” as they were shooting huge action sequences in the scalding jungles of Malaysia, just outside Johor Bahru. Episode 4 airs on Saturday, but the back-to-back episodes we mentioned are guaranteed to turn the whole “Strike Back” filmography on its head because of the inspired decision to give the show an emotional spin—by revisiting Sergeant Thomas “Mac” McAllister’s (portrayed by Warren) little-known family life and compelling backstory.

Warren Brown

When we heard Warren saying how the characters and their followers will be “ripped apart” by what transpires in the show, we could feel a twinge of sadness as he disclosed how “sad, proud and excited” he is to hang up his military boots and uniform for good. OK, no spoilers here. Suffice it to say that Section 20, the elite, multinational, covert special ops team that McAllister belongs to, is up against a huge Albanian mafia responsible for “weaponizing” a virus—this time, a deadly strain that causes hemorrhagic fever—as a wea­pon for mass destruction.

More than that compelling and very relevant theme, what with the repercussions of the coronavirus spreading like wildfire all over the world, the 41-year-old actor said he was sad about “Strike Back” coming to an end. “I have mixed emotions about it,” Warren mused. “The show has been running for seven seasons or so, and I’ve been with it for over three years. Daniel, Alin and I have gotten so tight we’ve practically become the best of friends—and I’m grateful for that. But going into its last season, the show itself is something we can all be proud of because the writers really went to town with it. It’s our best season yet!”

Jamie Bamber

Our Q&A with Warren:

What are your plans after “Strike Back”?

Who knows? I came off a show about spies in World War II (“X Company”) just before I got involved in “Strike Back.” So, for the last six or seven years, I always knew what to expect and what was coming up. This is the first time in about seven years that there’s nothing out for me just yet, so I’m excited to see what’s next. As we speak, I’m currently here in LA for the opening of the show, and to see my American agent and audition for parts.

What I learned from this show is that if you can survive being with “Strike Back,” you can survive anything. I don’t want to go into another military series per se, but certainly, the military skills I imbibed and my experiences as a former fighter will come in handy because more and more TV shows and films require these skills. After all, not a lot of actors can do that. We’re working on a couple of ideas and trying to get something off the ground.

You’ve been globe-trotting the world because of this show. What are your fondest reco­llections about these trips and what were the hardest?

That’s one of the wonderful things about “Strike Back”—the different places you get to go to. In our case, that’s visiting Jordan, Budapest, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Croatia, where we shot many scenes this year.

It’s amazing to see all these parts of the world. You need to do some adjusting each time you go to a new place, but that comes with its benefits in terms of the sets and the amazing backdrops this provides the show. And that’s what sets “Strike Back” apart from all the other series out there. The landscapes are stunning, from the deserts of Jordan to the jungles of Malaysia.

Bamber (left) and Brown

So, this season, we’re going out with a bang—and the fans won’t be disappointed.What kind of training was required for the story this season?The training has always been ongoing from the time we kicked off in Jordan, where we tried to get super fit and trained for three to four hours a day for a month with the Jordanian Special Forces. We learned to handle live weapons so we could understand what the fight scenes should look like. It was really intense, and we just got better and better with the weapons. It’s the most physically demanding job I’ve ever had, so every actor needed an element of fitness just to get through the working day because every day was relentless—from gunfights and fistfights to action scenes involving a lot of explosions. The schedule was unlike anything I’ve ever been on. My background as a former professional fighter certainly helped me get the job. It’s one of those skills I was able to draw from throughout every season.

How similar or different are you from your character, Thomas McAllister?Actually, we look alike a lot. As an actor, I think a lot of times, you’re getting cast because they see something in you that is similar to the character they’re casting. I looked the part: McAllister is a very physical, very capable person. And we both come from a professional fighting background, which was surely one of the things that helped me get this job. Like me, McAllister is headstrong and isn’t afraid to speak his mind, almost to the point of getting in trouble with his commanding officer, Col. Alexander Coltrane (Jamie Bamber). You can expect me to speak out for something I believe in.

Could you tell us what the mood was like on set in “Strike Back’s” final episode (Episode 10)?

It wasn’t easy because we’ve all become fond of one another. We were as sad as we were happy just to have gotten through the whole thing. After so many years, we’ve reached the end of the show!