Roxanne McKee, who played Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) handmaiden Dorea in the fantasy show, has joined the explosive action thriller for its sixth season when it returns to Sky One tonight, amid a major reboot.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, the Hollyoaks actress, who plays Captain Natalie Reynolds, revealed that she underwent a “huge learning curve” for her role as a part of the British counter terrorism unit’s elite Section 20.
Catapulting onto the screen two years after its last run, the newest crew also stars Sergeant Daniel “Mac” Macallister (Warren Brown), Sgt. Samuel Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson) and LCpl. Gracie Novin (Ali Samurwata).
Roxanne explained: “On Game of Thrones we’d maybe do three or four scenes and there’d be moments where there was no one around, and you could think about your character or they’d be setting up on somebody’s single [shot] and then that would take half an hour to get.
“But on this, there’s no time for anything and if you fluff up on your single [shot] – tough! They’re gonna have to cut to somebody else because you’re making blockbuster action for TV, so we don’t have the time to think about changing stuff in scenes.
“You decide how you’re going to play the character or the moment or the beat, and you hope to god that you get it, because otherwise they’re moving on.”
The British-Canadian, 37, went on to emphasise that despite the rigorous training the cast went through, it was still very intense to film the various fight scenes, and all the cast performed their own stunts.
“You wouldn’t know that coming into the show, that there’s no time. It was incredibly difficult to marry the action and get the beats of your character. It was such a huge curve and unless you’d worked on it I really don’t think you’d understand it as an actor,” she added.
The actress also admitted that she was thrilled to find a role on a show that put both its male and female characters on the same level.
“It’s so appealing and I’m so pleased that Strike Back have done this,” she said. “I think it’s really important that we as an industry have a more equal footing, but then starting off with characters in such a physical capacity. Warren and Dan didn’t give us any leeway and I mean that as a positive. We were expected to do all the same heavy lifting physically or emotionally, but that’s what female soldiers would do.”
“I’m pleased that the show has that gravitas and happy to be a part of that. I’m also very happy to be playing a woman who’s not only very physically strong but she’s very mentally capable and she’s the leader,” the star enthused.
Strike Back airs tonight at 9pm on Sky One.
