Sudbury armed forces veteran in new Amazon Prime show The Power shot in Suffolk at Bawdsey, near Felixstowe

An armed forces veteran from Sudbury has spoken about his time on a new Amazon Prime science fiction series which was filmed in Suffolk.

Nicholas Cohen played a member of a SWAT team in The Power, starring Toni Collette and John Leguizamo, which was shot in Bawdsey, near Felixstowe, during August 2021.

The 43-year-old said he was on set filming for two weeks on the production based on the bestselling feminist novel by Naomi Alderman, in which women develop the power to generate electricity which can kill with only one touch.

On how it all started for him, Nicholas said: "I was just scrolling through Facebook and I saw a post on a military page, looking for armed forces veterans in Suffolk to play a part in a high-end Amazon production.

"I applied as a joke thinking nothing would happen.

"But I got a response the next day, they called me, I told them I am ex-armed forces, they asked a few more questions, invited me along for costume fitting on set in Bawdsey and two weeks later we filmed."

The first three episodes of The Power are set to air today, with Nicholas saying he thinks he is in episode seven or eight.

He said: "I am excited to watch it, it was certainly an experience filming, really hard work and long hours. Filming it in August 2021, it's been a long time coming."

During filming the production paid for Nicholas to stay in a hotel for 10 days and transported him to set daily.

But his first day on set, he thought he may have ruined it all.

He said: "I was standing on the edge of the film set having a cigarette, it was the really hot dry period over summer and we were in long grass.

"I was very careful about extinguishing my cigarette, but a few moments later I looked around and there was thick smoke coming from where I was standing.

"I freaked out and thought I had just burnt down a million pound production set, I had a panic attack, but realised shortly afterwards it was special effects smoke."

The set consisted of a large convent which took two months to construct, 300 crew members on site and intense filming with some night shoots.

As well as extremely strict rules on Covid testing and PPE during the filming, weapons were also guarded on set.

Nicholas explained: "There were only two live fire capable assault rifles, a team of serving UK Royal Marines were in charge of the armoury, weapons issue and there was zero live ammunition on site - everything was checked, double checked and triple checked.

"The rest were airsoft and very realistic in looks feel and weight. We carried an assault rifle, a realistic looking but plastic side arm in a holster, replica taser and pepper spray in our webbing / utility belt."

To give realistic sounds of gun shots, Nicholas said a specialist from the Royal Marines fired a blank firing pistol to provide audio.

Asked if this was the start of him as an extra in TV and films and what he learned from being on set on a huge production, Nicholas said: "To be honest probably not, it was a fantastic experience and I'm glad I did it, but it was extremely hard work, both physically and mentally exhausting.

"It was very long hours and very repetitive, holding a weapon in combat ready stance for a long time then repeating the same thing 10 times until they were happy was absolutely knackering especially as it was through the night.

"The production team were fantastic they really pulled out all the stops to make it fun and an enjoyable experience and I learned just how much goes into a production like this, both financially and logistically - it's incredible how its all done."

The show also brought in money for the local economy with more than 10,000 hotel nights were booked in Ipswich by the production and suppliers in the area recouping thousands of pounds in business.

For a production of this size, Creative England’s rate card estimates there was a daily local spend of £35,000 a day.

The Power airs its first three episodes today, with one new episode released each Friday until the finale on May 12.