With director Magnus Martens’ SAS: Red Notice now available On Demand, I recently landed an extended interview with Tom Hopper about making the action thriller and other projects. Based on the best-selling novel by former SAS operator Andy McNab, the film is about a special forces operator (Sam Heughan) traveling with his girlfriend (Hannah John-Kamen) on the Eurostar from London to Paris and what happens when a team of heavily armed war criminals - led by Ruby Rose - seize the train. SAS: Red Notice also stars Andy Serkis, Wilkinson, Owain Yeoman, and Ray Panthaki.

During the wide-ranging interview, Hopper talked about making SAS: Red Notice, how being on Game of Thrones changed his career, what he remembers about making Merlin and Black Sails, and getting to make The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, why he’s excited for Resident Evil fans to see the upcoming reboot titled Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, how his version of Albert Wesker is different from the previous films, what it’s been like shooting The Umbrella Academy Season 3, and more.

If you’re a fan of Tom Hopper, or any of the projects I just listed, I promise you’ll enjoy this conversation. Check it out in the player above and below is a time index of what we talked about.

Tom Hopper:

What TV series would he like to guest star on?
What movie or movies has he seen the most?
When did he think he made it as an actor and could do it full time?
When he thinks back on Merlin what stands out?
When he thinks back on Black Sails what stands out
Can he eat chicken every day?
8:45 – What was it like joining Game of Thrones in the height of its popularity? What did they tell him about the role he’d be playing?
10:30 – How when you are something incredibly popular it’s like getting in front of every casting person at once. How GOT landed him a few jobs.
12:10 – What surprised him about the making of GOT?
13:20 - How you can watch the film as a fun popcorn movie but the script also deals with what is probably happening with governments around the world.
15:48 – How Ruby Rose’s character is usually played by a man.
17:05 – How is he told about the arc of a role when cast? Is it the director, his agent, or the script?
18:40 – Does he still get nervous the night before he’s going to sit down with a director?
19:55 – What’s a day or two he’ll always remember from making SAS: Red Notice?
21:02 – What was it like making The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard?
22:15 – How Frank Grillo told me he had a lot of fun making the movie.

22:45 – How many takes did he ruin in his scenes with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson from laughing?
23:40 – What does he want people to know about the Resident Evil reboot?
25:05 – Would he describe the movie as violent or super violent?
25:20 – How he had to play video games to get ready for the role.
26:30 – How it’s a full reboot and doesn’t connect to the other Resident Evil movies and takes place in 1998.
27:35 - How Johannes Roberts said, “we even used the fixed angles that the first game has when the characters are at Spencer Mansion.”
28:15 – What’s a day or two he’ll remember from making Resident Evil?
29:10 – What surprised him about reading the script for the first time?
30:20 – What was it like getting back on set for The Umbrella Academy Season 3?
31:40 – How did COVID impact the shooting schedule of Season 3?
32:20 – Did he get all 10 scripts?
33:13 – Has he tried to find out where the series is going?
34:00 – Where are they in the filming process?
34:40 – What did he think about Season 2 and the finale?
35:40 – What might surprise fans about the making of the series?
37:10 – How does it work learning the action set pieces?
38:00 – What was his reaction to the success of the series?
39:28 – What can he tease about Umbrella Academy Season 3?