Real life imitates art in Gregory J Bonann’s latest TV series, SAF3, where he creates an elite division of air, water and fire rescuers in a fictionalised Malibu Fire Department. Bonann, given his background as a lifeguard and his acclaim with the Baywatch franchise, is in his element delivering bona fide shows on that subject. Once again, he reveals his Midas touch with Dolph Lundgren as the lead in an ensemble cast, in this action-laden and feel-good series, writes Debashine Thangevelo.
IT is rather ironic that Gregory J Bonann would leave Malibu to come to Cape Town to shoot a series that is set in that affluent coastal city of Los Angeles County.
But that is what he did.
The Baywatch creator says: “It is my first time shooting anything here (and he’s done an array of TV series and films – She Spies, Avalon: Beyond the Abyss, Assault on Devil’s Island, Steel Chariots, Baywatch Nights, Thunder in Paradise and several Baywatch spin-offs). But I have been here a few times. I was here, as a lifeguard, in 1996. It was our International Lifeguard Championships in Durban. I came back last year again… because I was looking to see if I could bring the show here. I came back another time to finalise things and meet people. It was the last decision phase. The next time I came, it was with the show.”
Given that he is on a manic schedule, it would have been understandable if he dived right into the interview. But before being ambushed with my myriad questions, he casually enquired about my publication and me – which is unusual, to say the least.
Back to our chat, he revisits his boyhood fascination with real-life heroes.
Very animated when he speaks, he says: “I have always been enthralled with real heroes, since I was a little boy, whether they were firefighters, policemen or military.
“I love people who are full of self-sacrifice and dedication. But it wasn’t a question of that (for me). It was about which heroes I was telling a story about.
“I’m in the Los Angeles County Fire Department. In LA, there are 12 000 lifeguards and 20 000 fire-fighters. We have a paramedics’ division. We have an air division. We have a swift- water division. We have a search and rescue division. We have a whole bunch of guys who are experts.
“What we have never done is have one division with all. We have always wanted to do that at home. I decided, if we can’t do it in real life, maybe I can pretend to do it on TV. Hopefully, it will inspire the former.”
And so SAF3 was born.
Looking at the cast, JR Martinez (Alfonso Rivera), Dolph Lundgren (John Eriksson), Texas Battle (Texas Daly), Katie Meehan (Charley Frazer), Lydia Hull (Lily Maddox), Jocelyn Osorio (Graciela Vega), Travis Burns (Chase Robertson) and Danielle Anderson (Kacie West), Bonann says he mirrored their characters on real-life people.
He clarifies: “All our characters are modelled on real-life guys whom I knew really well. They are the real deal. Just as we have with all the actors, we cast the best we could find for all the characters.”
Shedding light on Lundgren as the hesitant leader, he says: “He takes over control as it was his mentor’s dream to have this team. He is a reluctant hero. He didn’t want to run the show, but he didn’t expect his mentor to die. And he is really, really good at it. Around him is an ensemble of other great, strong characters.”
Full of praise for the local talent too, Bonann explains what attracted him to doing the series in the Mother City.
“Your coastline here is really rugged, fascinating and romantic. It is a wonderful combination of landscape and heartscape. And it looks a lot prettier, especially when you add the palm trees, than Malibu ever did.”
In some instances, as with Martinez, he uses his facial disfigurement as a story arc.
Bonann says: “It is the personal stories that keep people coming back. Of course, we are going to have a lot of action. We don’t write the show from the point of view of the victim. We write and develop the characters in the show out of their point of view. We learn that Martinez is burnt in the first episode. In real life, he is a survivor of a war incident – a real American hero. Telling his story of recovery and struggle is just really fertile development. At the end of the first season, he has his first date with a woman who sees his heroics and personality and falls in love with him. And he is dealing with the fact that he has a scarred face and, at the same time, is rescuing people from burning buildings… like Superman.”
Bonann is confident this series, which has shades of Sea Patrol and Rescue Me, will bag a second season. After all, it has a winning recipe of heroism and camaraderie… and Dolph Lundgren.