Vikings stuntman Adam Behan on season six, playing Harald and being set on fire for risky scenes

Vikings stuntman Adam Behan has spoken about being set on fire during risky stunts.

Behan is the stunt double for Harald (Peter Franzen) and Bishop Heahmund (Johnathan Rhys Meyers) on the hit History Channel show.

While he is surely well used to doing dangerous things for an epic shot, it isn’t without its risks, with fire and horses being the most hazardous elements from the show.

Adam told Metro.co.uk: ‘Naturally every stunt has its inherent dangers – high falls, fire burns, horse work, or detailed fight choreography – even “simple” stuff like coaching an actor for a fall to the floor has risk.

‘Making sure correct techniques are used and providing necessary protection is a big part of our job.

‘As for the “most risky” stunts that I’ve performed, fire burns or horse work come to mind. I can’t really decide between these two.

‘Fire work is dangerous for obvious reasons, but horses are so sensitive and at the end of the day have a mind of their own. We really need to be on our A-game when working with them.

‘The guys around me are so highly experienced and skilled though, so I have nothing but absolute confidence before going on fire or when working with horses together.

‘Safety is paramount and first on everyone’s agenda, we all want to go home the way we came into work.’

Vikings is ending after season six, and Adam, who has been involved with the show since season five, is looking forward to being back, even if it is for the last time.

Adam told us: ‘Vikings was such a great production to work on, I’m going to miss it a lot.

‘I genuinely feel so grateful to have met so many amazingly talented people along my way, some of them are friends for life.

‘Over the seasons we worked so closely as a unit that by the end we genuinely felt like a family.

‘It’s definitely the people I’ll miss the most. I was on the show on a full time capacity from the start of season five when I started doubling as Bishop Heahmund. I’m super excited to see season six.’

Behan had high praise for Franzen, who took his role so seriously that the stunt crew had to ask him to ‘tone it down’ in rehearsals.

‘What a dude!’ Adam laughed.

‘Peter is an absolute gentleman and I’m sure anyone who has worked with him will say the same.

‘What a professional he is, always showing up for rehearsals with the same attitude – ready!

‘Peter worked hard in fight rehearsals and was extremely receptive to instruction, constantly trying to out-perform his previous fight.

‘He’s a very fit man so working together in rehearsals was always great fun, lots of sweat, shouting and laughter filled our rehearsal space for those hours with Mr. Franzen, sometimes we’d even have to ask him to take it down a notch or two.

‘Once a sword was put in his hands, you were no longer looking at Peter Franzen, you were looking at Harold!’

That’s not only the only hit sword-slinging show Adam is a part of, as he has also worked on Game Of Thrones, including season eight which will include some intense and grueling battle scenes.

‘Adjusting the body clock to the night shoots I found to be quite difficult, I hadn’t done back to back nights like that before. Other than that it was a fantastic experience!’ he said.

But when we pressed him on what fans can expect from the show’s final season, Adam was keeping it zipped.

‘The fans will need wait and see to find out, but it’s a whole load of awesome. They certainly won’t be disappointed.’

Vikings returns later this year on History Channel while Game Of Thrones starts on 14 April on Sky Atlantic

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