STACK NZ Jun #63

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with MARK ADDY .

before we started rehearsals and we had three or four days in France in a stunt stable, which gave us a chance to get to know each other. It was great from our point of view as we had a lot of time in each other’s company and it meant that when you arrive on set on day one, you knew each other already, which isn’t always the case. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner together every day and have done since we started filming in April, so we know each other pretty well. How was filming on location in Morocco? It was hot! When you’re out in the desert and its 103 degrees and you’re in your leathers there’s really nowhere to escape from the sun. Just when you think it can’t get any hotter, the director says, ‘Right, get on the horses now’. The stuff that we shot there is literally in the desert; you couldn’t create that anywhere else. The amazing thing for me is seeing how they’ve joined what we shot in Morocco with what we’ve shot in Chepstow; you can’t see the difference, it’s seamless. That’s down to very clever camerawork and lighting and everybody is at the top of their game, it is remarkable. We only shot for three weeks out there but it was enough to give it a flavour and a sense of scale that you couldn’t achieve here.

What drew you to the part of Hercules in Atlantis ? MARK ADDY: Well, I got sent a couple of scripts by Johnny [Capps] and Julian [Murphy] and I kind of expected a gradual introduction of characters, but as I read it I realised it wasn’t the usual TV script at all. The Labyrinth and Minotaur feature in episode one so there’s no long-winded build-up, you’re straight in with the action. The scale of it all just blew me away and the ambition of it was enough for me to say, ‘I really want to do this’. It’s incredible – if you got a movie script that was as good you’d be very happy! Having had a meeting with the guys, I realised we are in very safe hands with all the CGI and effects – nobody in this country knows it better than them. I didn’t have to think twice. How is it playing a legend? Well it’s maybe not the Hercules that people think of immediately. My kids were a little bit quizzical about the idea of me playing Hercules at first. I showed them the programme Britain’s Strongest Man and told them that this is what strong guys look like – my Hercules isn’t strong because he goes to the gym every day, he’s strong because he’s the son of Zeus!

He’s a legend in his mind. If he got into a fight with some guy in the tavern, by the time he got back home, in his story, he would have defeated an army. He’s his own spin doctor and his accounts of all his heroic acts should definitely be taken with a large pinch of salt! Jason and Pythagoras find it very amusing. They kind of go along with it as they know that it’s just the way he is, so they may as well have a laugh at his expense. You have a lot of scenes with Jason [Jack Donnelly] and Pythagoras [Robert Emms] and it sounds like you have plenty of fun on and off set… It’s great. They sent us horse riding

• The first season of Atlantis is out on DVD and Blu-ray on June 3

Your Hercules seems to have a couple of flaws…

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