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Escape: Sarah Alexandra Marks Breaks Down Saban Films Action Thriller

Sarah Alexandra Marks (Witch) spoke to Bleeding Cool about her Saban Films latest action thriller, "Escape," director Howard J. Ford, and more.

Sarah Alexandra Marks built quite a name for herself in the British entertainment scene as an emerging presence in the action, horror, and thriller scene since her emergence in 2008 in her on-screen debut in Real Crime and The Peter Serafinowicz Show. Landing memorable roles on Kill Kane (2021), Help (2021), and Witch (2024), Marks is always ready for that next challenge, and her upcoming thriller Escape for Saban Films shows how well she can lead an ensemble. The film follows ten trafficked women on a remote island who find themselves in the clutches of a ruthless criminal gang. Desperate to survive in the harsh desert, two of the women devise a bold escape plan, igniting their fight for freedom. Marks spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with writer and director Howard J. Ford (DarkGame, The Ledge), her co-stars Sophie Rankin and Ksenia Islamova, and her biggest challenges on set.

Escape Star Sarah Alexandra Marks on Howard J. Ford's Flexibility, Cyclones, and More

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Escape?'

It was the man himself, Howard J. Ford. He intrigued me about 'Escape' as a man and the magic he exudes. He made me want to work with him on whatever it was going to be.

How did he run his set?

His sets are full of adventure in life, but Howard himself? He's such a positive guy and exudes this infectious energy that goes on to everyone around him. The cast and crew are such a joy to be on Howard's sets, and there are never down moments. Not a lot of waiting around as an actor, which you tend to get quite a bit on many film sets, but with Howard, there's no time wasted. It's all go and I love that way of filmmaking.

Did you meet with Sophie [Rankin] and Ksenia [Islamova] and build a rapport between your characters for filming? How do you guys describe your chemistry with them?

I met Sophie and Ksenia at the Cannes Film Festival, but we didn't get to know each other. It was short and brief, so the next time I saw them both, it was when we were filming. We all threw ourselves into it; we were open with one another, welcomed each other with open arms, and became friends instantly.

How physically and mentally demanding was a role like this compared to your other work?

Mentally, it wasn't too demanding because Howard is such a joy to work with. He also lets you be quite free as an actor on his sets. There was a lot of physicality, which required a lot of action scenes and fight choreography, but it was always handled with such care. We always took our time with the fight choreography to ensure it was right, so even those scenes were quite a breeze.

What was your most difficult scene or aspect of production?

One day, when we were in the Canary Islands, a cyclone hit the island [laughs]. We had such beautiful sunny weather every day [until that point,] and then this one came along on the island, and it was torrential rain for an entire day. We couldn't shoot the whole day. It stopped raining for maybe ten minutes or so, and we were driving to our second accommodation. Howard said, "Let's quickly jump out here, and we can grab one quick shot," so we did that. The whole day wasn't a complete write-off, but it was tricky to do anything because we'd set up that day to go to the caves. The entire scene was with my character, Sophie's character, and the two baddies, but there was no way we'd be able to achieve it with the level of rain and wind there was.

Escape, which also stars Sean Cronin, is available on digital.

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