February 5, 2025

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

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“Something that was new for me was just sprinting along a rooftop edge” – Chad Michael Collins talks the latest in the Sniper franchise

To stop an arms dealer from unleashing a deadly superweapon, ace Brandon Beckett () and Agent Zero (Ryan Robbins) are deployed to lead a group of elite soldiers in Costa Verde. Taking an untested sniper under his wing, Beckett faces his newest challenge: giving orders instead of receiving them. With time and ammo running low, they must overcome all odds just to survive.

FILMHOUNDS talks to long-time star of the Sniper franchise Chad Michael Collins about his latest mission, keeping fit, doing his own stunts and how much he admires directors.

I'm very excited to be talking to you about Sniper: The Last Stand. You already know how much I enjoyed it, so we'll dive straight into the questions. Can you tell me how you became involved in the Sniper franchise?

Yeah, long story. Hopefully short. I did a lead role in a movie called Lake Placid 2 for the Sci-fi channel. And everybody loves that cult classic, the original. We did the first sequel, which was, I think, a Universal and/or Sony and or Sci-Fi channel like co-production. One of the main producers on that really wanted to get the Sniper franchise off the shelf and back on the screens. And so, after he had hired me for this movie and he liked the job that I did, he thought I was a dead ringer for a young Tom Berenger. So, 3 or 4 years later, I think he had some ideas about how to resurrect this franchise, including an origin story that they were interested in but they finally settled on what came to be Sniper: Reloaded, and 2009, 2010, and I got brought down to the Sony lot to do a kind of a test with the producer and the director, Claudio Fey, and the rest is kind of history and here we are still today. 

Those original Sniper movies are very beloved within the community. How did it feel stepping into Tom Berenger's shoes?

 It was a real pinch me moment because I remembered watching the original Sniper when I was younger, and so you know that indelible first scene where he's, you know, in the ghillie suit, and he's rising out of the brush, and the helicopter is touching down. I'll never forget that. You know that movie and to find out that not only was I blessed enough early in my career to have a lead role in a movie of all things, but to for it to be this movie and then to get to meet and star with Billy Zane like right out the gates? I was just blown away, and I'm just as appreciative now as I was then, because it's kind of been an amazing feather in my cap for the last 12-13 years and hopefully continues to do so.

Did you ever think it would be as successful as it is? So back in 2010, when you were pinching yourself? Did you think that 15 odd years later, you'd still be doing this kind of thing?

Man, I never take it for granted. This is such a fickle industry. There's up years there's down years. I've experienced it all at all, you know, and I'm still amongst the lucky people to be able to work, you know, and do this as a living, full time. It's rare. And so I had no idea. You know, it was a real experiment, Sniper: Reloaded. We didn't really do a lot of press for it. It was just kind of something they just threw out there just to see what the general response would be, and I guess the response was good enough that they came back, and we did Sniper: Legacy. Then we came back and did I think, Ghost Shooter? And then we came back and did Ultimate Kill. And so it's you know, it's been a little machine, and it's just kept rolling and rolling and rolling so I could have never guessed that for the next 14 years I'd still be doing it. But you know I feel like for The Last Stand, we've made possibly the best one at least in terms of the stuff that I've been a part of.

What do you think it is about the franchise, and indeed, Brandon Beckett, that resonates so much with people that you're on the eleventh film now, of which you've been in eight? What is it about it that makes people want more and more of this story?

You know, it's really hard to nail down. I think that Brandon is a bit of a relatable guy, and you know, good guy. He's a real Boy Scout, you know. He tries to do the right thing, and tries to leave things better than when he found them. And you know, I think he's a soldier, for the right reasons, you know, and he does the very hard, challenging thing he does for the right reasons, and I think that heroic side to him just, I think, appeals. You know. It's just you want your heroes to be good intentioned, and to maybe do difficult things so that the world's better place. And yeah, I think that that's just kind of an archetype that resonates with people you know around the world. And you know, around the world I've discovered with the fans and stuff like that there's just something about that American military and that fighting man and the armed services over here. And people just love that they love learning about it. They love the history of it, the movies about it, whether it's World War Two or the present day fighters and stuff like that, too. It's kind of what we're known for in the old U S Of A. So it continues to be popular around the world. 

Definitely, you're obviously doing something right? Right?

 Right!

What sort of preparation and indeed training do you do before heading onto the set each time?

 I try to come in good shape. Obviously, we do a lot of action. This film has a ton of action as you saw. And so I try to come in good fighting shape. And that's not just, you know, physically trying to look the part, but also being in a physically good place. So you don't get hurt doing the part. This is kind of a twofold thing now that I'm getting longer in the tooth and a little bit older as I do these things. They gave us a fun day at the range where I got to shoot some of the weapons from this particular movie, which are some of the guns you've never seen Brandon use before, which is pretty cool. And so we had some of that experience under our belt. But yeah, you know, keeping up to speed, just keeping proficient with certain things, and being knowledgeable. But, you know, being able to work hand in hand with the talented, often former soldiers and veterans that we have there as technical advisors and onset armorers. They're just a constant resource that I go back to again and again and again across every movie. They've done it for real. I'm doing it for pretend. And so to not use them and their expertise is just silly. So, yeah, it's an ongoing process. But that's how I approach it.

I think that one of the things why people probably enjoy these films so much is not only that your character can resonate with people, but that it does feel authentic. Often American actors are used to handling weapons from different TV and films that you've done, you know, throughout your work. But sometimes British actors don't know unless they've done a police TV show, perhaps, or military. You can really tell you guys know what you're doing. You look comfortable, you understand about recoil etc. 

Yeah, and that's always the trick, you know. We got to shoot the big bad boy sniper rifle from this movie for real. I got to shoot a bunch of rounds off this thing, and it was a cannon like for real and but then when you shoot the blanks on set, there's way less gunpowder in those things. So sometimes a lot of the guns, whether it's the handguns or the automatic rifles, the M4, there really isn't much recoil that you would normally feel if you were shooting normal bullets. So as an actor, you have to be aware of that and sell it a little bit, you know, for the camera. Yeah. So there's a lot of subtleties and nuances, it becomes a real technical art and things that you have to stay on top of and constantly think about on top of hitting your mark and throwing that punch and not getting hit by it and running over here and saying your dialogue. So it's fun. I think it's a technical challenge in the way that I know a lot of actors who, you know say, you're so lucky you get to do cool guy action movies. And I say, well, you know, if you ever get a chance to do one, let me know how hard you think it is, because it's not as easy as it looks, be careful what you wish for.

Hard work, definitely.

It's a lot of fun, a lot of fun.

Have you always used blanks rather than relying on prop weapons then adding the VFX in post?

You know, I think it's been about a 50/50 split. You know, there's certain places where you film, certain countries that we've gone to and shot at those. That's a little bit harder to pull off, whether it's the price point or the laws, and just the culture. And then there's other places we've gone where you know, that sort of stuff is easily available, and we're able to kind of use that, and I think most people would prefer it. Obviously everyone prefers it done safely, but most would prefer to have the blanks, because it does give an authentic feel, and the muzzle flash is really legitimate, and I know that that, you know probably helps them a lot out in the editing, and you know, I don't know what director really wants to rely on post-production VFX if they don't have to. They'd rather have the real practical thing, and unfortunately, the real practical thing is very hard and very expensive, and very time consuming sometimes. So VFX does become a nice shortcut, and I know that we've incorporated both all along.

Have you ever filmed anything in the UK?

Yes, I have. I have. I spent two days on a movie that I filmed in the Caribbean. We came to York and filmed for a couple of days, which was a lovely, charming little historical place that I really enjoyed. I didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to, because we were still in the pandemic. So there was a very long quarantine period just to film for two days and then they kicked me out immediately. So yeah, that's my one experience.

On smaller sets here we have to use airsoft guns and things like that here.

Yeah, that's very popular. They're not as fun, but they look incredibly legit.

This is true. Okay, so Sniper: The Last Stand is the 1st in the franchise to be directed by a woman. Did you feel that Danishka brought anything different to the table? Or was it simply she was the right person for the job?

I don't know much about the hiring process. I know that she's a successful filmmaker in her own right. I don't know that she had done very much action before that, but I knew she was a big fan. And so, whatever she did in those meetings, you know, impressed the pants off of enough people that she's the director that I met on set day one. So she really nailed it. What an ambitious film. And you've seen it. It's like we packed so much action in 90 min. It feels like it feels like two movies worth quite honestly. And she was incredibly prepared. She had incredible vision, storyboards and some of that stuff got really intricate and hairy, and there's so many pieces to chase down. You got an explosion here. You got a guy falling off a roof there and someone getting shot over here. You got a smoke grenade there, and you've got, you know, firefights here and choke points here. You know, cut into an action sequence here, and she was on it like there's no way we could have done this without her. You know, her prep and her planning, and just seeing this sort of stuff through for us, and so all props to her, so well deserved, and it came out well because of her.

Do you get to see the previs?

Yes, I do. We have a lot of extra sessions, you know, preparing some of these fights and the stunt people put together the previs for the people learning at home. The previs is basically where the stunt people professionally put together the action sequence of the fights, using the angles and everything that they'll film with. And then they teach the actors how to come in and do that dance on their own. But the previs is always intimidating, because you've got these absolute professionals being like you do it and you're like, wait you're amazing at this. I'm not gonna be that good. They are pretty good about sharing that with us, so that we can at least do mental reps, and, you know, do awkward hotel room practicing when we're not working with them.

That's awesome, and leads me into how much of the stunt work can you do? It seems that you do most of it. There doesn't seem to be too many cuts in there. Obviously some things you can't do for insurance, but it seems like you do most of it?

Okay, I would say that I've done minimum 95% of all the stunt scenes in all the Sniper movies. And it might be like you say, there might be some crazy thing here and there where they won't let me, but I try to do as much as possible and as much as they'll let me, because I know that that is always better for the edit, and that's always better for the director, and it gives them so many more choices in terms of the cuts and the scenes that they can use. So no offense to our stunt guys. They're much better than me, and they make me look great as an amateur. But I do try to throw myself in there and do as much as I possibly can, because I know that it helps out directors and editing, too, so long as I'm not awful, which I haven't been so awful that they haven't asked me to do it. The day to stop will come when they just put the stunt guy in there, and don't even give me the choice. That's what I know. I should probably retire.

Are there any set piece stunts that you've always wanted to try that you haven't been able to do yet?

I got to do a fun one on this last one. They had me running at the edge of a rooftop like. I think we're like four or five stories up, and they had me running right in the edge here to go from one place to another as I watched carnage below me. And so they kind of put me on a little tether. It was kind of like a dog leash thing they kind of strapped me into through my shirt just in case, you know, I teetered over the edge or tripped and fell but I didn't really need it. But that was something that was new for me just sprinting along a rooftop edge.

Pretending you were Tom Cruise!

Yeah, but Tom Cruise wouldn't need a tether at all. He would probably just do it. And Jackie Chan as well. But that's pretty cool. I don't know if there's any sort of wild stunt that I would want to do, or try that they would let me. I'm not the biggest fan of heights, but I think it would be fun to jump out of a plane once at least. And have it filmed. So who knows? We'll see.

Is there an actor that you would really love to work with on one of your films, even if they're a huge name, and it would just be a cameo appearance or something like that. Is there someone that would just be, you know, chef's kiss if you saw their name on the call sheet?

Oh, man! That's a great question, and I have my own personal favorites but I love working with the veteran actors, because there's so much to learn from them, and I love to watch their work, and just kind of see their process a little bit, for my own selfish reasons, and just be a sponge around that. So I don't know. I mean, I grew up in the eighties and nineties, so it'd be great to throw one of the old action stars in there. I don't care if it's Sly Stallone or Mel Gibson, or Chuck Norris. But I grew up with all those types, Arnie and Van Dam and everyone else in between. So I would love to see someone from the old genre make an appearance in ours. And just yeah, we'll see if that happens.

Yeah, a few of them are still doing some good stuff, Lundgren is still doing some really good fight scenes and things as well. 

Dolph is great. We obviously lost Carl Weathers sadly, but he would have been a really fun actor to have as part of our universe as well. He would have been a really fun fit. So we'll see.

Get Dolph on the phone! So, as well as actors, because there's a lot of different directors and writers that come on board for the Sniper series, is there any particular director that would be a really good fit, and someone that you would really like to work with?

Well, I don't know. I work with so many directors, and I think you know, no director has a harder job than working on a low budget film. It takes so much more extra prep, so much more extra creativity lining up. The pivotal pieces of the crew and the community, and the production team as well, becomes that much more important when every day, every minute, every dollar matters. So I've learned so much working with every director. Working with one of the more famous ones, or A-list ones, or the great ones would be, you know, very cool experience for me. I've never done something like that. But I had never worked with Danishka, and we ended up having just an incredible collaborative relationship and working so well together. So I don't really discriminate because they're way more talented, and have a way better vision than me. So there's always so much for me to learn about the filmmaking process with every director that I've ever been blessed to work with. So I guess I'll give you Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood, come direct a sniper movie for us.

Oh, that would be awesome, wouldn't it? Can you imagine? Have you ever thought about directing yourself? Because that's something that a lot of actors seem to move into. Is that something that interests you?  

I don't know. I probably see myself throwing my hat in the ring, doing more writing, you know, to start, at least, instead of directing. But I still feel like I have a lot to learn about the filmmaking process, and you know how that all kind of comes together, and the vision that you need to have to be a director. You know, every director I've ever met is wearing literally 85 hats. It's impressive. Yeah, I'm sure you could attest to that. So yeah, so far, I'm not so inspired by that level of masochism. It seems like the absolute, brutal thing to sign up for. But who knows? Maybe one day, maybe one day. It's impressive. What you guys put together and it's always fun to work with people with such a vision.

What is next for you, not necessarily just within the Sniper universe. But where can we see Chad? What have you got for us in the future?

Well, we're here talking about the big one. January 21st here in the States. The digital release of Sniper: The Last Stand, the eleventh entry in our long standing franchise, and then the 28th of January is when the DVD is released. So there's that one. We're also waiting to hear if our Edge of Space short film gets the Oscar nomination, it's on the Oscar shortlist. So yeah, those are the big ones. I did a couple of films last year. Desert Dawn with Cam Gigandet and Kellan Lutz. That trailer just dropped. And I think that's out this summer. And another movie called The Wrecker, an action film that hopefully will be out in 2025 as well. So yeah, when I know everyone else everyone else will know. So those are the fun things on the docket for 2025. So far.

Amazing. And where can your fans find you if they, if they don't already follow you? Where's the best place for people to find you and keep up with what you're doing?

Yeah, I'm on the big three socials. It's like collinschadm across I don't know Instagram, Threads and X and whatever. And you know, Chad Michael Collins on Facebook. But I also do a bit of streaming live, streaming in between acting projects over on Twitch. Twitchtv/ChadMichaelCollins, where I play the Call of Duty games that I've been fortunate enough to star in. So it's been a lot of fun to play over there on Twitch.

Available to buy or rent digitally in the UK from the 28th January.