British actor and martial artist Scott Adkins chatted about his new movie, the World War II action thriller “Prisoner of War.”
Louis Mandylor directed from a screenplay that Adkins co-wrote with Marc Clebanoff. It will be in theaters and available on digital on Friday, September 19th.
Starring martial arts icon Scott Adkins as British SAS officer James Wright, “Prisoner of War” tells the story of a soldier captured by the Japanese and held in a Philippine POW camp.
Before the entire colony embarks upon the Bataan Death March, Wright and his fellow prisoners are forced to compete in brutal death matches for the entertainment of their captors.
Adkins delivers a complex and deep performance as the man who may be able to save them all.
Making the action thriller
On shooting this movie, he said, “Well, it was hard work as normal. Filming in the Philippines in the rainy season, which wasn’t very smart, but it looked good. Then, the set washed away a few times but I still enjoyed it.”
“It was a tough shoot, but we felt like we were getting some good stuff,” he said. “We had the same cinematographer that we had for ‘Diablo’ actually, but he makes it look completely different, which is why Nicolo De La Fere (the DP) is so great.”
“It was something different for me,” he said. “I mean, a different genre for me in a way. Obviously, there’s action and martial arts, but to do a World War II movie was something new for me, and I enjoyed it.”
“It was behind enemy lines and against the elements,” he noted. “There was lots of action!”
Working with Louis Mandylor as director
On working with Louis Mandylor as director, Adkins said, “Well, Louis is a great friend of mine. We’ve got a great relationship. We get along really well. Obviously, we worked on the ‘Debt Collector’ movies together and always felt that he’d be a great director.”
“We were looking for something for Louis to direct me in, and this came along, and it was the perfect fit,” Adkins admitted.
“Louis is just a great actor. So, he gives you great notes as a director. Better than most directors, of course, because he understands acting,” Adkins said.
“Louis has got a keen eye for cinema. There are some very cinematic moments in this film, isn’t there?” Adkins added.
Working with Marko Zaror (on past and future projects)
While his dear friend, actor and filmmaker Marko Zaror was not in this movie, Adkins revealed that he will be doing something else with Marko Zaror in the near future.
“I just love working with Marko. In fact, he has a movie ‘Affinity’ coming out with Louis Mandylor in it,” Adkins revealed.
“Even though it’s hard work making an action film, but Marko Zaror makes it very enjoyable because he is a very positive person,” he added.
Lessons learned from the ‘Prisoner of War’ screenplay
On the lessons learned from this “Prisoner of War” screenplay, Adkins responded, “It taught me that I’m getting old when I when I saw my hamstring on day one. That’s what the experience taught me.”
“No, actually, in the screenplay, I came up with the story for this and it was written by Marc Clebanoff, the producer, and he did a fantastic job. Marc fleshed it out much more than I could have done, but the initial idea was mine.”
“Also, there’s this whole thing about my father being a recipient of the Victoria Cross,” he said.
“That is true in the Adkins family because my great-great grandfather was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery when he ran across enemy lines in World War I… he started a big charge in the Somme, and they killed a load of Germans, and one of his superior officers was wounded,” he elaborated.
“He pulled him back and saved his life, and they gave him the Victoria Cross. Then, we got his diary, and we had it all written up and everything,” Adkins said.
“We discovered that he started this charge not because he was a hero, but because he was losing his mind in the trenches, and he just went over there. He was very heroic to save the people he saved,” he explained.
“The initial charge was just because he had enough, and we wrote that into this movie, which was interesting,” he added.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Adkins revealed, “Just Keep Working.”
“I’m just trying to do good work,” he said. “I’m very lucky I get to do what I love to do, and I get paid for it.”
Closing thoughts on the movie
For fans and viewers, Adkins stated, “I just want people to have a good time watching a good action film.”
“It’s a good old school movie like the ones I grew up in. I grew up on in the ’90s where the guys that are doing the fighting really actually know how to fight and they’re not just pretending,” he explained.
“It has all that that you would expect from one of my movies. Perhaps people will come away with something more. There’s a lot of gravitas to this movie, I would say more than what people might expect,” he elaborated.
“So, I think we’ve achieved something really good, and I look forward to people watching it,” Adkins concluded.
To learn more about actor and martial artist Scott Adkins, follow him on Instagram and visit his website.
