Jason Clarke: “It was really cold on the set of The Last Frontier!”

Recently seen in Oppenheimer and in Winning Time (the series about the Lakers), the 56-year-old Australian actor leads the hunt in the icy setting of Apple’s new thriller. He confides in Première.

He spent months freezing in the great American North, for the purposes of filming The Last Frontier. The excellent Australian actor Jason Clarke tells us about this exhausting but rewarding experience, to put together this breathtaking thriller between The Fugitive And Wings of Hellcurrently available on Apple and Canal +.

PREMIERE: Who is Frank Remnick, US Marshal of Alaska that you play in The Last Frontier ?
JASON CLARKE: A US Marshal is a member of law enforcement responsible for arresting fugitive criminals, people who have broken the law in short. He comes from a big city: he was a cop in Chicago, then he returned to Alaska for his wife, who is from there. Fairbanks is a smaller city, but that suits it. He is slowing down his career a little. And then suddenly, this Boeing 737 crashes with all these prisoners on board. And now he finds himself with a bunch of weirdos to apprehend and put back behind bars.

There is a real side Wings of Hell (1997) in this series, right?
But yes, totally! A real vibe Con Air (laughs). Frank Remnick is a good guy, caught up in something beyond his control. There is that. He’s a far from perfect guy, he has his demons, his wounds, and it stays with him throughout.

You have the feeling that he is a bit of an heir to Sam Gerrard, the Marshal played by Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive (1993) ?
It’s a great comparison (laughs)! But I rather love Gene Hackman. I had more in mind French Connection ! That said, The Last Frontier clearly aims to be a return to the heyday of 1990s action cinema. Everything is shot with cameras, everything is real, the stunts are real. There is no CGI. It’s a more visceral feeling. The director, Sam Hargrave (who had made Tyler RakeEditor’s note), is truly one of the very best to stage this type of action thriller today. It’s very anchored in reality, and we have the impression of being there. It’s quite an exhausting style to shoot for an actor, but it makes for something quite thrilling for the viewer to watch. I love 70’s cinema for its actors and its dramatic writing. But I admit that the 1990s marked something in terms of effectiveness for action cinema.

I could imagine you on set, looking at the camera and saying: “We have a fugitive!“
(He bursts out laughing) Yeah, it would have been nice if Frank had a signature move like that… Like him taking off his sunglasses with class, saying: “We’re going to lock them all up!” (laughs) But deep down, I think that’s not Marshal Remnick’s type. He’s simpler than that. He’s a normal guy. And that’s good, because I want the audience to be able to identify with him.

You didn’t film in Alaska, did you?
No, we filmed in Montreal. In my opinion, it’s at least as cold there… It was really very cold. There’s a little less snow, but it’s the same kind of very humid, bone-chilling cold. It was quite an intense shoot.

And it looks freezing in the picture! We say that you must have suffered on the set…
Yes, it’s all true. We even shot some sequences in the mountains, north of Calgary. We found ourselves climbing at high altitude, hiking at 2,500 meters… But it was really magnificent, and that was part of the challenge. The whole series was very physical to film. I had to listen to my body and stay in shape to be ready. You have to be ready for all conditions in this type of production. And in a way, it allowed me to put myself a little better in Frank Remnick’s shoes, in his way of approaching things without complaining, always discreetly.

Moreover, this frozen landscape plays an essential role in this story…
Yes, he’s a character in his own right. Everything is steep, wild. There are large expanses, storms, snow everywhere. At one point, Frank Remnick is asked to establish a perimeter to track down prisoners. But he laughs: “There is no perimeter here!” It truly is nature in its raw state, and you have to be born there to be able to survive there.

You have another series coming out at the same time, around the Murdaugh family (on Disney+). What types of roles are you looking for today, after 30 years of career?
This is a real question that I often ask myself. I look for roles that tell great stories. I also appeared in Kathryn Bigelow’s film, A House of Dynamitewhich is released on Netflix. And it’s by doing that that we realize what matters most: being part of a great story. Afterwards, my role in Murdaugh Murders was tiring. It was a tiring role. I was happy to finish filming. I had to gain 15 kilos to play the murderer Alex Murdaugh… and then I had to lose them… But it’s interesting to delve into a darker personality. And then A House of Dynamiteit’s the kind of story that makes everyone think, and that’s cool too. So yes, these kinds of challenges are what I’m looking for today.

The Last Frontier, season 1 in 10 episodes, to watch on Apple TV+ and also Canal + in France from Friday October 10, 2025 with two episodes posted online from launch, then a new episode each week until December 5.