Adrian Paul On The Sword Experience, ‘Highlander’ & ‘Game Of Thrones’ Fight Scenes

Adrian Paul, who is best known for playing Duncan MacLeod in the Highlander series and films, has parlayed his sword-fighting talents into The Sword Experience – a touring event that gives people the chance to learn stunt choreography from the best in the business.

Adrian Paul Exclusive

With The Sword Experience, Paul drops into cities for events that last roughly four hours, giving enthusiasts a chance to learn the kind of sword work that comes to life on the big and small screens. He offers people an understanding of the ins and outs of stunt choreography, and what makes movie fighting different from the real thing. A big part of The Sword Experience events is recreating fight scenes from popular shows and films. Paul especially likes recreating Game of Thrones fight scenes.

“[Game of Thrones] is really good. I think it’s astounding what they accomplish every week, to be honest. Actually, that’s one of the things I like people to suggest, like, ‘Can I do a Game of Thrones fight there?’” Paul told uInterview in an exclusive interview.

Paul also likes getting requests for Star Wars and Into the Badlands fight scenes. “It’s kind of fun to reenact those. It’s interesting because when you do something and you see it on film, cutting around the mistakes is easy to do,” Paul explained. “That’s why they take multiple cameras and you’ll never have a sword fight that is — unless you do some of the older sword fights that are – all in one take.”

When it comes to fight scenes in contemporary TV and film, Paul sees a disparity between what he calls “reality fights” and those more fit for superheroes. Paul’s preference is the former, which he thinks Game of Thrones tends to get right.

“The thing I think movie audiences are now becoming accustomed to is more reality fights. You’re not gonna have this guy spin, kick, fight – like unless there’s an absolute superhero – and I think that’s a little over the top,” Paul explained. “I like the grittier fights like Game of Thrones, where it’s like two slashes and the guy’s dead.”

It’s been nearly 10 years since the last Highlander movie – Highlander: The Source – came out, and now there’s talk of a reboot. While Paul believes he’s still capable of doing the kind of demanding physical work he’s done as Duncan MacLeod in the past, he would be more than happy to pass the torch on to a younger actor for future installments, whether it be in the form of a new series or movie.

“I can still do a lot of the stuff I used to do, but I don’t bounce as easy, you know?” Paul said. “That’s the thing. I mean, I’ve landed on my head a couple of times. I’ve got lots of scars and cuts to prove it. I still love doing that stuff, but again, it’s a young man’s game in a sense. That’s grueling. I’d be attached to something like that because it’s kind of something you left a legacy on in some way, but I think the idea would be to take it to younger guy and I’ll become the quantum cloud of the series.”

---