MAAC sits down with producer/actor Marco Robinson to talk about his upcoming action thriller Legacy Of Lies starring martial arts star Scott Adkins!
MAAC: As a producer, what are some challenges you faced getting this passion project of yours off the ground and finally making it a reality?
MARCO ROBINSON: This took 7 years of my life to make with writer / director, Adrian Bol. It was not Called “legacy of lies” originally. However, after getting all the script, PR & social media done, next thing I knew the director called me up and said “Are you sitting down?” He went on to say “you are all over Russian news with all your personal social media as a crazy man for going after the Russians with this film”
I watched that news…and for the 1st time in my life I was seriously scared of losing my life! So we binned the entire project and my dream was dead. It got so bad a Russian spy, a beautiful woman, that had been chatting to me for nearly a year flew over to see me in Malaysia where I was living and warned me of the film…more real than James Bond I kid you not! The spy who “shagged” me nearly killed me!
So we started again and came up with a fictional script ironically called “Legacy of Lies.” I raised 10,000 euros to make the trailer and we won the best trailer at the UKRAINIAN film foundation with a million dollar prize which we could use to fund the film. The catch was we had to find an A-LIST actor to access the money and it wasn’t until 2 weeks before the fund expired that we found the incredible Scott Adkins, which changed everything and we went on to raise a total of USD$4,500,000!
MAAC: In addition to producing, you also co-star in the film. Can you give us some details regarding your character?
MARCO ROBINSON: I play an MI6 hard boiled agent called “Burns” who will not stop to neutralize and kill Scott Adkins lead character “Martin Baxter.” It’s a small role but I am in 37 scenes of the film and loved every second of it, especially as it was my first ever film role.
MAAC: How did you get the fantastic Scott Adkins to come on-board? Was the role always written with Adkins in mind?
MARCO ROBINSON: No. It was actually written with me in mind originally. I had screen tested for the lead role successfully, but we had a decision to make. Keep it a small film with me as lead or go for it and make a bigger film with a well known actor which I was not at the time.
We decided to go for it and we had shortlisted three big names for the role, but only Scott would, we found out in making the movie, with that grit and edge with his action and fighting heritage. He is the perfect possible choice. On retrospect, we could not have chosen a better actor. He is brilliant in the role and when you see it you might think it’s his best film yet, we certainly do.
MAAC: As far as action is concern, what are some of your inspirations for the film? Was there a specific type of action style you were going for?
MARCO ROBINSON: Our inspirations came from Eastern Europe and that extra soviet spy grit and darkness, we knew what we wanted and we knew it had to be action packed with extremely high stakes for the characters. We looked at Jason Bourne and thought “no” not gritty enough. Then we saw John Wick and thought, “nearly there.” But I have to say this is way edgier than that and the action is insane and literally non-stop. The cage fighting scenes are particularly spectacular, which you simply WILL NOT find in any other film.
MAAC: Can you give some insight on the stunt team (stunt coordinator) involved with the film?
MARCO ROBINSON: Scott insisted on bringing his own team in and we were very, very fortunate to get the incredible Tim Man, whose pedigree speaks for itself…with Boyka: Undisputed and Triple Threat being one of many of his fantastic fight choreography accomplishments.
Leon Chee Sua made up a sublime and experienced team and Leon has been an integral part of the stunt and fight crew of the Fast and Furious, Mission: Impossible and the latest bond film No Time To Die. Bottom line THE ABSOLUTE BEST in the industry.
MAAC When can fans expect to get their first look at a Trailer?
MARCO ROBINSON: That’s in the hands of our distributors Lionsgate who are huge! And we want to make sure all our fans, especially Scott’s, get the best possible time to see the film in theatres and on streaming services including Netflix. We are currently working through this carefully because of the uncertainty of the “coronavirus” outbreak.
MAAC: Thank you for your time Marco! We’re definitely looking forward to Legacy Of Lies!
Make sure you follow the Legacy Of Lies official Facebook and Instagram pages for updates on when we will finally get a first look at the film.