Yes, Jason Clarke Really Did All His Stunts in The Last Frontier’s Biggest Action Scene (Exclusive)

Nothing in “The Last Frontier” seems easy. The events take place in the frozen Alaskan wilderness. Apple TV+ series It was filmed primarily in the extreme cold of Canada, often exposing the cast and crew to the harshest conditions they had ever encountered. Then there’s the actual story, which focuses on a transport plane full of prisoners that mysteriously falls from the sky and releases dozens of violent criminals, leaving no-nonsense U.S. Marshal Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke) to clean up the mess. Showrunners John Bokenkamp and Richard D’Ovidio have also crafted a maze-like mystery regarding the villain at the center of it (Dominic Cooper’s escaped convict Levi Hartman, codenamed Havelock) and his relationships with the CIA agent assigned to the case, Haley Bennett’s Sidney Schofield. However, the most difficult of all of these elements occurs early in the first episode, when the series presents its largest and most ambitious action scene.

As The Last Frontier goes live, I had the opportunity to sit down with Clarke and reflect on how to pull off this unforgettable moment. Shortly after the transports break down, Frank is among the first responders to show up and contain the scene… until dozens of convicts in suits appear out of nowhere and start a brawl for the ages. It was filmed in one take by actor, stuntman and Extraction director Sam Hargravethe sequence is violent, gritty, and chaotic — so much so that I suspected a bit of old-school trickery was in play. I asked Clark if the show crew was used Texas Switch technology. Replacing the stunt man in Frank’s more demanding stunts, he set the record straight:

“No, there’s no Texas Switch. (Pause) There’s a few – there’s one snippet in there (laughs), see if you can pick it out. But no, there’s no one else doing it. We rehearsed it so hard. It’s dangerous scenes: fingers, faces, (punches), helicopters, snow, cold. But the level of execution and professionalism of those stunt guys, that team and camera guys, was amazing. That was One of the more serious scenes is exciting stuff for me, that’s where we set the tone for what this show was going to be. Its reality, its chaos, its ugliness, and its execution.”

While “The Last Frontier” features an extremely talented cast, including a series of notable guest appearances over the course of the season that are simply too good to spoil, Jason Clarke’s performance as Frank Remnick, stands out from the pack. Frank, the engine that drives the entire show, clearly has some kind of complicated backstory, along with his wife (Simone Kessel as Sarah) and son (Tate Bloom as Luke), who have already been through their fair share of difficult times together. But where the drama comes in is through his innate fallibility. He’s not the world’s greatest spy or the army’s toughest soldier – he’s simply a family man who has dedicated his life to doing the right thing, no matter the cost. According to Clark, this is exactly what makes the character as a whole, and specifically his actions during this opening battle to the death, so compelling:

“Frank is in a fight, man, he’s not (UFC fighter) Georges St-Pierre or Superman or Neo from The Matrix.” He’s a man who, more often than not, takes more than he gives, you know what I mean? This element is that you feel exhausted when you get on the helicopter. You think, “Holy smokes, we just got out of there.” This is what Apple and “The Last Frontier” were putting on screen, this is what you want to see. For me, I wanted more of that.”

This tone-setting sequence raises the bar high for the rest of the upcoming season, but it presents a challenge for a weather-beaten Frank and The absolutely adorable character actor he portrays (who can also be seen in… Kathryn Bigelow “House of Dynamite”) are eager to embrace. Look no further than Clark’s commitment to a series of joint-bruising stunts that he performed (mostly) alone.

New episodes of “The Last Frontier” stream on Apple TV+ every Friday.