The Last Frontier follows Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke), the lone U.S. marshal in charge of the quiet, rugged barrens of Alaska. Remnick's jurisdiction is turned upside-down when a prison transport plane crashes in the remote wilderness, setting free dozens of violent inmates.
Tasked with protecting the town he's vowed to keep safe, he begins to suspect the crash wasn't an accident, but the first step of a well-crafted plan with far-reaching and devastating implications.
In addition to Clarke, the ensemble cast includes Dominic Cooper, Haley Bennett, Simone Kessell, Dallas Goldtooth, and Tait Blum, with Academy Award Nominee and multi-Emmy winner Alfre Woodard.
Last week, we sat down for a conversation with Clarke about his role as Frank in the Apple TV series. The Last Frontier features some insane action scenes, with Extraction helmer Sam Hargrave (who worked on Avengers: Endgame and several other MCU titles) stepping behind the camera to helm the first and third instalments.
The Oppenheimer and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes star talks to us about that, his character's story arc, and why it's hugely beneficial as an actor to have 10 1-hour episodes to explore where The Last Frontier takes Frank.
You can watch the full interview below, along with our chats with Cooper, Bennett, Woodard, and showrunner Jon Bokenkamp.
I've got to bring up the ambush in the snow. I know you're no stranger to action, but how was it working with Sam Hargrave on that...
Oh, Captain America himself!
...in those incredibly challenging conditions for what was an intense sequence?
It was an incredible challenge. The amount of work that goes into that is crazy. The difficulty and danger involved in that is crazy. There are so many moving parts, and it's a live situation. There's no room for even the smallest mistake. You have to bring a level of believability and reality to it, as well as a level of focus to locate the cameras and know where you're moving. And confidence, so that everyone can feel your confidence. People pick up on nervousness. Hargrave is extraordinary. He really is. He's rightfully regarded as one of the best stuntmen ever in some of the best stunt sequences ever committed to celluloid. And he knows how to shoot it. He has an insane team with great camaraderie and a great skillset. That was one of the pleasures, man. I'm glad to have committed, and I can now add my name to the people who have been able to do it and done it. It was a real tick in the box for me.
I think it's really interesting with Frank to see how dismissive the CIA is of him. They think he's this country guy who doesn't know what he's doing, but we see that he's very capable and forced to work with a shady character in Sidney. What did you enjoy about exploring that dynamic, particularly as you'd worked with Haley before?
Frank is comfortable being the underdog. He's capable of knowing that at the beginning of a fight, he's going to cop a few. He's prepared to cop a few and give a bit of skin to get a bit of skin. That's the way he is. If you knock him down, he's going to get back up. I'm no Jean-Claude Van Damme, and we discussed that with Sam and the style of what it was going to be. We didn't want it to be slick. We wanted it to be some old school...you begin to earn and learn the character through the action, the drama, and through the speed of the 10 days this story unfolds.
Haley brings such a magnetic quality, you feel like you're forever poking through the mist of who she is and what she's really up to. She gives you glimpses and then shoves it and moves it. That was essential for playing someone in the CIA who needs that. You're never sure of where they are, who they are, what they're after, who they answer to, or what their motives are because she's also brilliant at coercion.
It's a fascinating dynamic.
It is.
As is the one that Frank has with Havlock. At the end of that first episode, he pulls Frank into his orbit...
Yeah! He pulls Frank right into his orbit. I mean, I like that. This whole story, as you lean into Frank, you're with him as he's behind the eight ball. There's no sense of calm. His momentum all the way through, and each episode ends with a cliffhanger, and you're with Frank as it slowly starts to unfold. You realise at a certain point that you're way out in the ocean, and it's everywhere around me, deeper than I thought. It was great to play. It really was.
I can imagine, as an actor, it must be so beneficial to have those 10 1-hour episodes to explore the character and those relationships?
Yeah, to not have to explain it, let it develop, and reveal it as it happens. You see Frank, you feel Frank, and that's how the character opens up. The story does as well. Jon's writing, there's so much to peel back, and he peels it back like an expert. Like somebody who wrote The Blacklist. He knows what he's doing.
The first two episodes of The Last Frontier are now streaming on Apple TV, with new instalments following weekly.