Strike Back star Daniel MacPherson reflects on Wyatt’s evolution

Strike Back has put Samuel Wyatt through the wringer, and Daniel MacPherson spoke about Wyatt’s transformation before the Strike Back season 6 finale.

The sixth season of Strike Back has been a wild ride for Samuel Wyatt. He’s gone from gung-ho soldier to re-evaluating his future on the Cinemax drama, and that’s been one of the best parts of the season—watching him figure himself out.

Daniel MacPherson has delivered a tremendous performance as Wyatt has gone on this journey, and he spoke to Hidden Remote ahead of the season finale to discuss his character’s latest issues and if he really is done with Section 20. Plus, what was up with those Hawaiian shirts?

Hear from Daniel in our interview below, then find out how it all ends in the Strike Back season finale Friday at 10 p.m.!

Hidden Remote: The major revelation this season was that Wyatt is married. How much did that change your perspective on his character?

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Daniel MacPherson: I thought it was a part of the puzzle that really made sense. I’ve always known and thought that Wyatt had a really big heart. He’s got a lot of compassion, he’s got a lot of empathy. He can be a real selfish brat as well, but his understanding of life and love and all that, he has quite a broad scope. So of course he met someone who he thought was the love of his life and he wanted to have a future with and all that kind of stuff, and I think that’s a piece of the Wyatt puzzle that really fits.

Strike Back gave him another near-death experience when he was shot by Pavel, and Wyatt subsequently left Section 20. What was your reaction when you got that script and saw he had actually quit?

I think it was a bit of a scare for Wyatt, definitely, getting shot. Jack Lothian, our showrunner, kept me on my toes—which means I’m a bit worried [that] for a third time, I caught a bullet. It’s always a bit of a shock to read a page where you’re getting shot. Wondering if he’s going to survive to the next episode.

Wyatt pulled the trigger [on quitting]. Maybe he was just getting too hard, he was losing his mind and maybe, just maybe, he needed to go find out what life was like on the other side. He’s done that and guess what? He can’t get away. It’s in his DNA, it’s who he is. He’s spent a lifetime being trained, conditioned to be this man, this operator and it’s in his blood.

What he’s learned in these last couple episodes is he’s really good at what he does, it’s who he is and like a lot of veterans I’ve spoken to, coming back to the real world and trying to fit back in is one of the hardest challenges. It’s a challenge that Wyatt faced.

What was your biggest takeaway as you’re unpacking all this baggage? Because Strike Back season 6 really demanded a lot of you and had you going in different directions.

I’ve loved the emotional gymnastics of Wyatt. Wyatt is a larger than life character, perhaps, and I’ve really enjoyed anchoring him down in the truth of some of the stories I’ve heard from veterans, and the books I’ve read and the conversations I’ve had. To try to make him relatable to the men and women that have come back from service, that’s really important to me.

I love pushing myself across that emotional spectrum, and to get to really dig in and try to refine a performance in a character like Wyatt, across a show like Strike Back which is known for these ballsy action sequences, it’s been a heck of a challenge. But I thank the producers and everybody around for allowing me to do that, and allowing it into the final mix, because it’s been really satisfying [to be] flexing acting muscles as well as my fighting muscles. It’s been a joy on this show.

You played against a number of great new actors during the season. What was it like to work with the new talent, and what did they bring to the table?

Thankfully we attract a stellar guest cast. Jack writes great characters, and because of that you get a wonderful caliber of actors putting their hands up to come play for a couple of weeks. That’s great also because most guest actors come in for two episodes at a time, which is about three to four weeks out in the jungle with us, and you really need that energy. It’s like a shot in the arm to a set to have fresh blood, new enthusiasm and it really helps us along as a main cast who are doing it for 28, 29 weeks of the year.

Victoria Smurfit was wonderful this season. Adrian Edmondson was larger than life. Chris Obi, who played Zaza, Kelly [B. Jones] who played my wife Madison—all of these really strong guest stars that came in on top of our recurring baddies this year. I’ve got to make special mention of Alec Newman as Pavel, who just got better and better and more sinister and more twisted as the season went on, and I loved it.

The quality of the guest cast and the commitment of the guest cast is imperative of the success of a show like Strike Back and it makes our job as lead cast much more enjoyable. Every addition this year—Yasemin [Kay Allen], Jamie [Bamber], Alec—just stellar human beings and stellar performers, and made the season so enjoyable.

On a lighter note, everyone’s been talking about Wyatt starting to wear all of these Hawaiian shirts. What’s your take on his recent fashion choices?

Our choices aren’t necessarily Daniel’s wardrobe choices, but Wyatt made some colorful choices. He’s a bit looser and cares less about what people think about him…Obviously we didn’t want [him] to look like the Magnum of Section 20, so we had a very tight line to walk there, but I will say I stole about six or eight of [his] Hawaiian shirts. I’ve got them with me and I love them.

We know the next season of Strike Back will be the last. What are you thinking going into the beginning of the end?

I think we have a pretty tough ask. I think this past season was one of the best. Certainly we raised the bar on what we were capable of, and I think we’re going to have to work very hard to raise that bar again for a final season.

Strike Back airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Cinemax. For more on Strike Back and other Cinemax shows, follow the Cinemax category at Hidden Remote.