Scott Adkins has got no cover, no back-up, and no way out in the claustrophobic action thriller Take Cover. After a hit goes wrong, Sam Lorde (Adkins) finds himself disillusioned, deciding to retire as a hitman. His final job, however, results in becoming a target himself. With little to no cover, he must fight with everything he has to survive.

Ahead of the UK release of Take Cover on October 14, FILMHOUNDS talks to action hero Scott Adkins about his latest starring role and his bromance with co-star, Jack Parr.

You must get offered tons of jobs these days, so what was it about Take Cover and Nick McKinless' vision that spoke to you?

I had the script given to me by the writer, Joshua James, and I thought this could be a good project for me. I knew Nick from previous work and it turned out he was already aware of the script and loved it. We got chatting and when it came time to choose a director, we gave Nick the job because obviously he had a lot of experience with the stunts and everything but it was his take on the drama and the story that we really enjoyed. Because if he couldn't do the stunts even though he definitely could, I take care of a lot of that stuff myself anyway. But we really liked his vision of the film 

What's the biggest difference for you when working on something like John Wick: Chapter 4 or Doctor Strange with a huge budget to something far less like Take Cover?

You just don't have as much time and time is money. You got a bit less cash, you got less time and it all boils down to the same thing, you gotta do it quicker. I've been on these bigger budget movies and they're there going, ‘Oh we haven't got enough time' because they've got too much time and they need a kick up the arse sometimes to get moving.

Were there any differences with working with Nick McKinless who comes from a stunt background in regards to how he directed you?

There was no difference really. Nick had enough experience and he's been on massive movies as stunt coordinator and second unit director so he's seen enough of how the big boys do it to know how to do it himself. He's got to be a storyteller at the end of the day. That's first and foremost. If the story doesn't work, alright we'll have some good action but fail because of the story. 

He certainly knew how to talk to the actors, when a performance needed to be done again or when we weren't getting it or when we were. He was supportive and gave us the opportunity to be the best that we could be but of course we didn't have a lot of time so we were lucky to get more than two takes. But I tell you what he did that was very wise, he got all the actors together a week before shooting so we could go through the scenes again and again and again so we were ready to go before the shoot. We'd learnt all our lines and got all those moments and we're ready. The only problem was we couldn't get on the set as it was still being built. The set was so important to work out what was actually happening in the script so we did have to change a few things which was frustrating but there you go. It's not about being good, it's about being good when the plane isn't flying over. 

Is it hard for you to allow stunt performers to do some of your scenes, knowing you could do it but can't?

I want to do as much as I can and sometimes I can't. Some films I'm in, I get to the last week and I think, ‘Oh I'll do this now because if I get hurt it doesn't matter since we're almost finished anyway'. But then if we're at the beginning of a movie I'm thinking, I don't want to get injured just yet because then the rest of the film is gonna suck. I was stunt doubled in this one but only because I wasn't on the set for the scene. 

So you did the parachute jump at the end of Take Cover?

I did and it doesn't look as high in the movie as it actually was. I think Nick was wondering if I was actually going to do it and I was like, ‘Yeah I'll do it'. But once you get up there, it's a bit like, ‘Woah I dunno if I wanna do this anymore'. But I said I was going to do it so I did it.

Are you going to take up skydiving in your free time now then?

You know I've never done that. I'm happy to jump off a three storey building but I don't know about out of a plane. What if your parachute doesn't open? I know I can survive the three storey drop and I've got confidence in my ability but nothing's going to help me up there. I'm not as good as Tom Cruise. What can I say?

Did you have a favourite scene or something you really enjoyed about this shoot? 

I really enjoy the pyrotechnic stuff when everything is exploding around me because that gets your adrenaline pumping a little bit. Probably it's all going to be good but sometimes you get stuff hitting you in the face that's harder than you expected, glass and everything and I really enjoy that stuff. Also the acting, I really enjoy being able to nail a scene and the whole pursuit of that. It's always very rewarding and sometimes frustrating. You're always reaching to be a better actor. 

I also really enjoyed working with Jack Parr, he's a lovely guy and a great actor. He's an asset to have around and I tell you what, he's got one of those personalities that puts everyone in a good mood. 

Do you prefer hand to hand combat or being able to use weapons in your fight scenes? 

It's easier to use the weapons and it doesn't hurt as much; you're not smashing flesh and bone against flesh and bone. The guns are great fun especially when you're somewhere where you can shoot blanks which can't always be done these days.

I really enjoyed Take Cover (review here) so what can we look forward to next?

Diablo from Ernesto Díaz Espinoza is in post-production and I am really happy with how that's looking. I don't want to say too much but I think it looks great. Then we've got Skyline: Warpath from Liam O'Donnell with Iko Uwais and Death March with Louis Mandylor which I shot in the Philippines during the rainy season which wasn't very clever but is a cool story. 

Take Cover is available in the UK on Digital Platforms and DVD October 14. 

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