I have kept this a secret since October until things were finalized. I was asked back then if I wanted to play the part of King Richard the 1st (Lionheart) in an upcoming cable History Channel Documentary called "Secrets of the Koran". Of course I jumped at the opportunity. This is a 2 hour documentary on the Koran or "Qu'ran" and its religious history. The first hour is pretty much all about the Koran and Muslim religion with all the ins and outs of it. The second hour adds the introduction of Christianity to it and the clash of both. This includes the first 3 crusades. I am playing the King in the third crusade period during the time and clash with Saladin.
Earlier in the second hour, I was also asked to be a plain extra knight during the battle of Hattin in the First Crusade. Some night fighting and shots where my face is not seen since they didn’t want the same person to be seen playing the king later. Later in the third crusade I am in a few other scenes with some close up shots, and riding. It was just a lot of fun to do and something I have always wanted to do in playing Richard since my family comes from his time. So, after finally getting my advanced DVDs and watching it, the show was real informative and historically enlightning. Out of 25 hours of shooting, it came down to about 2 minutes of fame for me, but thats how it works in TV stuff.
Towers production in Chicago flew me out to El Paso to do the filming for a few days where the movie "Courage Under Fire" was filmed and we doubled the buildings etc as both Muslim and crusader props. It was a lot of fun. I am riding on horseback, and doing some other things. Anyway, the History Channel now has it posted on their site. Part 1 is being shown next week Thursday, March 2nd at 8:00pm central time and again at Midnight central time. Part 2 is suppose to air the following week Thursday March 9th at the same times.
http://www.historychannel.com
Then just look for the lineup called "Decoding the Past: Secrets of the Koran". So, there you go. I hope everyone enjoys it. Not since I am in it, but for the historic value it has to offer. They did a lot of work and a lot of filming, historic investigation and interviewing of experts. The History Channel always offers great programming.
Jonathan Hawks - aka Sir Clisto