It’s a very, very cold day in February 2013 and somewhere just beyond the ice and snow covered woods, there’s the sound of gunfire.
It could well be the real thing as here on the set of I am Soldier, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, we’re only a few miles away from the army’s Catterick Garrison. However taking a look around the car-park where we’ve just pulled up, there’s no shortage of uniforms or military hardware here either. To the left Richard Kemp CBE (once the Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan) is quietly helping overseeing a scene with the film’s director Ronnie Thompson (Tower Block, Screwed) and the familiar form of actor Noel Clarke is rehearsing a scene where he puts several new potential SAS recruits through their paces. That's what I am Soldier will be all about, the severe training that recruits must go through to be selected for the elite unit. Clarke plays instructor and mentor 'Carter' overseeing the likes of Tom Hughes's Mickey who will go through physical and mental anguish to beat the recruitment odds.
Clarke may be appearing in the new shiny, lens-flare-heavy Star Trek film, Into Darkness playing a small but pivotal role, but during a break in filming I am Soldier - and sharing a treasured chocolate bar like it was military provisions - I put it to him that the two films couldn’t really be more different…
“Film sets… some are massive, some are smaller, but it’s about enjoying the work…In things like Storage 24, Doctor Who, Star Trek you are working a lot more with the green-screen, a lot more props that are futuristic… aliens etc… In films like I am Soldier, it’s more visceral and real , you’re here and you feel it. But except for that it’s the same…, yeah, there’s a lot more location work on this. On the other stuff, it’s more likely to be studio-based,” he acknowledges – adding that mixing up the kind of projects he actively chooses is a deliberate career strategy. “For me it’s always thinking about that. I remember people saying that my films were doing great in the UK but they didn’t sell internationally. So I sat down and thought about it and then made 4,3,2,1 with Emma Roberts and then did Storage 24. That sold worldwide, you can look at my Twitter feed and see the posters from Japan, Hong Kong… it’s all been part of a strategy…”
Today’s scenes will provide a montage piece within the film showing some of the SAS obstacle training and shooting range activities. Everyone on the project emphasises that while there will be a certain amount of drama in the film, there’s a strong determination to steer away from generic Hollywood action. If all goes well, I am Soldier will be the kind of film of which the army itself will approve – one painting an earthy but fair picture of what it takes to serve.
“It’s VERY important. We want to do a respectful movie. We’re NOT trying to make The Expendables. I wouldn’t say we’re an ‘Act of Valor’ but we are trying to make something that’s ‘real’ and something that the general public can watch and understand… but troops can watch and not think ‘Peh… they messed THAT up!’. We want them to watch the film and think ‘We respect that film because they respect and show what we go through to protect the country…'. We’ve made sure we have proper advisors showing us the proper way to do things. We’re not strutting around with guns cocked to the side etc… we’ve done it by the book. These are top guys…”
Showing some photos he’s taken of them earlier, Clarke wears a set of bruises with pride. He says that while he respects the stuntmen of the industry, this was one of those projects where the cast need to be seen to be in the middle of things.
“Yeah, I need to be at the top of my game. When we were doing the fight scenes… obviously we’re not REALLY fighting but we were as physical. We wanted to make it as physical as possible so we had a Krav Maga guy come down and we did sessions with him for elongated periods of time and learned to do as much Krav Maga as you need for this . The end result is that you’re almost really fighting without the actual hitting,” he explains. “We did army training with the real army guys and in our little battalion of SAS troopers there were three or four genuine army guys who made sure that we held the guns and checked them was completely accurate. That was the whole point. I want people to watch the film and know we appreciate what soldiers really go through. We’re just making a piece of drama but I’m not gonna wuss out and let a stuntman do it, I’m going to do it…”
He smiles at the fact that Impact’s been given access to the I am Soldier set and yet his recent Star Trek work had to remain shrouded in secrecy until release. He shrugs and says that’s just the nature of the beast and part of not spoiling films that contain surprises.
“I did a bit of location and a bit of studio on Star Trek. The weird thing is that it’s more secretive AFTER it’s made. We were shooting (some of my scenes) in downtown LA and people were walking by … I guess if they don’t know what you’re shooting then they just don’t know. We were there and people were thinking ‘Oh, there’s a film-crew…’ It wasn’t overly secret in that regard,” he says. “But they want people to enjoy the film when it comes out and so they’re being tight-lipped about it. I mean, no-one’s going to give away the full story of I am Solder either, but it might not be QUITE as anticipated! (laughs)”
Clarke has had a parallel career in acting and directing and he says he hopes to continue on both paths.
“Y’know… in your career you have your peaks and then you plateau. I’d done everything I needed to do in the hoodie/gangster thing and now it’s time to step up to a new level. Star Trek and this are the films that will do that… I feel I’m still going to do what I do - still direct and write - but I’ve made a conscious decision to not be AS prolific , to do less and make sure they’re better…”
As we head back to craft-services to grab some soup, I can’t resist noting that with it being an important year for Trek AND Doctor Who… which method of cosmic transport would he prefer to whisk him away from the cold Yorkshire afternoon and a few more hours on the obstacle course..?
“Peh. The Enterprise!” he winks.
I Am Solider is out on Blu-ray and DVD on 17th March
(Many thanks to Kerry Porter and Simon Hopkinson)
