Tim Abell - Jess

Troy Mittleider - Wyatt

Daniel Lee Clark - Bear

Scott Adkins - Talbot

Terence Rotolo – Reyes

Daniella Deutscher- Wendy Teller

Eli Danker - Hasib

Rimante Valiukaite - Saira

Vladislavas Jacukevicius – Zaman

The assault on the prison doesn’t go to plan and the team abort the attack at the last minute. Talbot reappears, helping to avert disaster for a second time, and this time Don persuades him to join them. As they make their way back to the safehouse, they witness the brutal murder of their local contact by PRP soldiers. Powerless to help her, the Special Forces unit and the Brit withdraw to a safer area.

The team, accompanied by Talbot, storm the Presidential Quarters. Having captured and interrogated the president, Hrankov, and now primed with new information they again undertake an assault on the prison. This time their attack is successful and they retrieve their objective, but when the exfil goes bad, the team are left fighting for their lives …

"Special Forces" is one of a series of five films under the banner "American Heroes". This film is the first and will either be picked up by a major distributor in the United States so it may have a general release or be sold directly to Cable in the States. Otherwise it will go straight to DVD, most likely through Blockbuster. Go watch it!

Marshall: Captain Don Harding, actually he is a Major, he starts out as a Captain and then gets promoted somewhere along the line.

Tim: Hi, my name’s Tim Abell. My character’s name is Jess.

Rae: Just Jess?

Tim: Jess Bonaventura. [pause] No, I just made up the last name.

Rae: Yes we guessed.

Tim: What, I couldn’t be a Bonaventura?

Rae: No. Second generation maybe.

Tim: Jess, Jess is all I know. It is also Latin for yes, "Jess".

Tim: A rank? Not too much, I took a jog before I came. The team that we are playing is a group of guys that are, I guess you would characterise them as Delta like. I think the name they have come up with is Rec 5 and it is supposed to be even more elite than Delta but we are all senior NCO’s except for Marshall, he plays the Major. That sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Rae: Yeah.

Tim: I play a Master Sergeant, and I’m the Second in Command. So if he gets killed I take over but as all action movies go, the buddy always gets killed, you know?

Marshall: He is the commanding officer of this special unit that is kind of a ghost unit. They are all members of the armed forces but they work independently on special operations because what they do is not known and if they get captured while they are there, they’re still not known.

Tim: A very big part, ok, a very important part, damn it.

Rae: Right up until you get killed? As usual.

Tim: And er I go "Please don’t shoot me." [Tim pretends to be scared]

Rae: I wish we could get that on tape.

Tim: Character wise as far as relevance to the story, actually very important, because it’s kind of a sounding board for the Major and for the guys. Marshall and I have a lot of things together, driving in the van and I’m kind of a sounding board for him to be able to talk to. Prior to going into the operation the fellow who plays the bad guy Rafendek, Eli Danker from Tel Aviv, is... they have a past history where he interrogated Marshall and actually skewered his hands to a table with a big knife. I’m the voice of reason who kind of talks to him about the mission and if he can actually perform his duties without getting personal and letting that come into play and upsetting the operation and the mission. So I kind of play the voice of reason with everybody, even with the character Bear, who is played by Daniel Clark, who was actually, do you remember a show called Gladiators?

Rae: Yes.

Tim: He was a character called Nitro, I don’t know if you know that. He used to have like long hair I think. He’s actually the hot head who wants to kill a lot of people and so I always have to go er … ‘not now, we got a mission to do’ … ‘you can’t do that okay’ …

Rae: So in the back history of the film, you weren’t part of Marshall’s original team that were captured?

Tim: Negative I was not, no. Because I’m not as old as him

Rae: No.

Marshall, Tim, Scott (standing), Troy

Marshall: Well, it is a film about an ongoing animosity between two people. That is not the theme of the movie, but the theme is based around the characters Hasib (played by Eli Danker) and myself. Hasib, in a war previous to this in Bosnia, captured me along with my men and he killed most of my men and tortured me severely - to the point of stabbing my hands to the tabletop and you can see the scars.

When this particular mission comes around, a young lady is captured by him and he makes a tape where she confesses … that kind of thing. I see Hasib’s face, and my commanding officers know that I have history with this guy, but they also know I know how he thinks, and since I happen to be the Commander of this unit, my unit is going after her to bring her home.

Marshall: It would be remiss of me if I were to say that my whole thing was based on revenge, which it is not. He is a soldier first and foremost and he is going to do his mission. If the opportunity arises, yes ma’am, I am going to kill him.

Eli is a very nice man and not only that he is a wonderful actor. It is a pleasure going up against him and for him to play the bad guy for a change, I have played a lot of them so having my own bad guy to go up against is a lot of fun and it makes a change for me.

Marshall: Fights. I don’t really look at them as stunts, because I have being doing them for my entire acting career. You know I have been in fights and run over and it is not because I am that good, but I am just rarely doubled. They just rarely double me, "yeah let Marshall do it, whatever". I don’t get doubled much, but I’ve got a gentleman in the show that is doubling me. You know a lot of the driving and stuff that they’re doing in sequences, for the most part I’m doing it. Just like everybody else is, for the most part everybody is doing it.

Rae: Apart from nearly getting killed by Marshall’s driving?

Tim: And after all those drinks the other night? Yes. [Laughter] I roll really well... [Tim makes the sound of someone rolling, if that is possible] I’m okay. We had, what have we had... we had some fun stuff in a van. I got to drive, and I scared everybody in the van because they thought I was going to flip it over. We have some shooting stuff … Then the van stopped short and I ran into the back, or the front of the van, and everybody thought I was hurt. It was actually very funny. Marshall kind of did a Superman and swooped me up, and comes across the front of the van and ... he was very gallant. Aside from that, we have a big firefight scene and there is just a lot of falling behind obstacles and things like that. I have a rappel I’m supposed to do, and then we have a helicopter scene where we jump out of the helicopter. There’s no real big stunts, but we have some fight things that we have done.

Tim: Yes. Yes, yes I die.

Rae: So how do you die?

Tim: I’m not telling you.

Kate: How far into the film do you die?

Tim: Okay second page… okay I got a page and a half. No, I don’t know it’s ...

Kate: So, no radio in the bath this time?

Tim: No, I don’t get shocked this time. Around page 70, so about 70 minutes into the film. They’ve got about 20 minutes without me. Of course once that happens you’ve just got to click the movie off. There you go.

Marshall: It’s great. He always makes me smile. Tim like I said, we have been friends for about seven years, and over the years we have had some wonderful, wonderful times together, working together and socialising and doing different sports, shooting sports things like that, he is just a great guy. I mean it is kind of hard not to come to work and not have a good time because you are working with a friend. Not only that but Michael Flanagan, the Producer, he is a friend, also Isaac Florentine (the Director) is a friend, I did US Seals II with him and I love working with him as he is such a stickler for detail. He is very methodical, he knows his shots and he is dedicated to a fault to making sure that the show looks good, and I respect that.

Marshall: Absolutely. I have done some walking. I run every morning, so when I am running I try to run ... if you really want to know the truth I got lost. I see a lot, but not knowing the streets very well I end up in some very odd places, and it is always beautiful you know. I always see the countryside. I have been to a couple of the churches. I am always kind of a nut for seeing... I enjoy seeing the mosques, the churches, the chapels different places that I kind find and pick up a little bit of the history, or as much as I can cram in. But I just love the history of countries.

Tim: I am staying in an apartment in the Old Town so I have seen a lot of that, but I don’t go running like Marshall.

Marshall: I miss my wife. I miss my wife and I miss my dog, Elly. She is a rat terrier, she is 28 pounds, she’s like a Jack Russell on steroids. She is just beautiful, and she is kind of my wife and I’s kid right now.

Marshall: What the dog? No, the dog probably won’t miss me, she’ll be missing my wife, when my wife comes over. She’ll miss my wife terribly. They’re best friends, but that is the thing I miss the most. It is nice to have someone to miss, up till I met my wife I did not have anybody I missed.

Tim: I throw a couple of bags of food in the yard for the dogs, they feed themselves… No, I have a friend who is house sitting. He is looking after the dogs and all the other animals.

Troy, Dan, Rimante, Tim, Terence & Marshall

Marshall: Many reasons, when you look around. First of all you’ve got, my God, when you look at the buildings you could make this anywhere, I mean, it’s got such history. Some of them are ruins that we shoot around and different places, and the military have been marvellous, they have co-operated with us fully, trying to make sure we get a good product out there, the guys get a good training day out of it and just geographically it is just outstanding to shoot here and the people … the people in the town are just... wouldn’t you say that is a big plus Tim? Tim’s not here … so I am going to answer for Tim, who’s not here … who is shaking his head "yes" he loves the people. [laughter] Tim’s fishing that’s what it is, that’s why he’s not here. It’s a mirage.

Marshall: Having worked on MacGyver many times over the years and been around Ricky Dean and Michael Greenburg, they couldn’t be nicer, they are just the nicest bunch of people, they have a good time every day. It’s not a high pressure set, you know they know the routine, everybody’s got their job, you go in and the only thing they expect you to know is your job, and if you know your job you are going to have a great time. Of course going to Canada is not a bad thing either, it’s a beautiful place, I enjoy the parks and the people. I’ve been there a couple of times over the years and I enjoy it. I like the USA, but I also like Canada.

Marshall: I really don’t know now. A friend of mine is doing a film that I’m not sure is completely slated yet so I don’t want to say too much about that, it kind of jinx’s it. I’m a little out of the pocket right now so it’s kind of hard to check on that. Other than that no.

Tim: I am going to Spain to work on the Flamenco film with Patrick Swayze. I am not sure yet but I think I will be there from the beginning of July.

Rae: Do you get to dance in that film?

Tim: Yes, yes I do dance. I play Patrick’s best buddy and I come to his rescue when he gets himself into some trouble with the locals and he doesn’t know I am there.

Marshall: I think the best way to sum that up is very simply, my job and what I do and what I am is an actor and my job is to act, wherever that medium is. So whether it be on the stage or whether it be on the television, or whether it be on film, as long as I am doing what I really love to do, I don’t see that you can really complain too much.

Kate and I would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation, not only to Marshall and Tim, but to all the other members of the cast and crew; from the director to the catering crew, to a man (and woman) they were all generous above and beyond the call of duty. They gave freely of their time and energy without question to one mad Scottish Doctor and a slightly insane English Lawyer who elbowed their way into their working and social lives, for which we shall be eternally grateful.

As for Marshall and Tim, what can we say... it was … horrible! [And we still have the tape to prove it, Tim *g*] Seriously, it was the most unique and amazing experience, one which neither of us will ever forget and we will always treasure the time we spent in your company. So, thank you guys, from the bottom of our hearts.