Storm Rider – The Legend of Hammerhead: Goodall on Aquatic Sci-Fi Epic

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Storm Rider – The Legend of Hammerhead: Goodall on Aquatic Sci-Fi Epic

Caroline Goodall (Cliffhanger) spoke to us about her aquatic sci-fi epic in Blue Harbor's Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead.

Published Sun, 15 Mar 2026 16:17:06 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Caroline Goodall discusses her role as the Baroness in Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead.
• The film blends aquatic sci-fi adventure with dystopian themes and striking world-building.
• Production involved intense on-location shoots in Croatia, including challenging water sequences.
• Goodall praises working with directors Zoran Lisinac and Domagoj Mazuran on this ambitious project.

Caroline Goodall will always be grateful for the robust career she's put together with a filmography spanning almost 50 years since her debut in the BBC's The Moon Stallion in 1978. She's remained active throughout the decades, steadily working, making splashes on TV and film like Remington Steele, the original Quantum Leap, Hook (1991), Cliffhanger (1993), Schindler's List (1993), White Squall, the '90s incarnation of The Outer Limits, and The Princess Diaries (2001). In recent years, she's appeared on the AMC+ adventure series Nautilus and the indie comedy thriller Sew Torn (2024). Her latest is Blue Harbor's aquatic epic Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead from Domagoj Mazuran and Zoran Lisinac, which follows the audacious journey of two rebellious Islanders who dare to challenge fate—racing to breach the Storm, venture into the unknown, and uncover the secret origins of their world, guarded by the immortal rulers of Argos: the enigmatic Founders. Goodall spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the dystopian sci-fi film provided a unique opportunity to play against type, working with Lisinac and Mazuran, filming in Croatia, which also happened to be the site for HBO's Game of Thrones, the intensity of production, and the nuance of her role as the Baroness.

Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead Star Caroline Goodall on the Ambitious Aquatic Sci-Fi Epic

What intrigued you about Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead?
I love sci-fi and apocalyptic stuff. I'm a real geek in that respect, and when I got the script, I saw this as a The Hunger Games (2012) crossed with Waterworld (1995). I mean, I really enjoyed that Kevin Costner movie. It was one of the great…[laughs]. The idea behind that was fantastic too and mixed in with a bit of Jules Verne and all the steampunk, I liked their vision. When people ask me to do stuff, it's generally because it's nice to be able to push things a little, and I loved [playing] the Baroness. I thought she was cool. It's nice to be in charge and be the head of the Navy, but she had an agenda and it ended up being rather a good one. She was a fabulous character, and I thought, "Well, I can do something with this woman."

What was it like working with Zoran and Domagoj as creatives?
Zoran and Dom are awesome. They're young, they came from gaming, and they created this extraordinary world. They understand world-building, and they believe in this story because it's got quite broad themes. It's also about the world we live in, and about what we're doing; we're depleting the Earth's resources. We might sink, all these things, and what happens if we do, and what do we do with the concept of power? Of course, there's this other story, which is all about living forever, and finding some kind of element, and this whole kind of drug culture that is so worrying for everyone as well. They've put a lot of the concerns that we have today, mashed them up, and then pushed them into the future to create this extraordinary story that also has a resonance for today.

There's so much in terms of visuals, stunts, and storytelling. What stood out to you most about the filming?
Of course, the water stuff. We did quite a lot on the water. We also shot in Dubrovnik (Croatia), which is this extraordinary walled city where they also shot Game of Thrones, and that was cool as well, because it's like, "Oh yeah, I recognize that and I know that beach." In fact, they have a little island off Dubrovnik where they still have the Game of Thrones [iron] throne, and you can take a ferry there. You could go there and sit on the throne, so that was one of the fun things I did when I wasn't shooting, apart from doing a lot of swimming, because the weather was wonderful. Sorry, take me back to the question [laughs].

I was wondering what those visuals are like, or your experience on set, because a chunk of the way the film looks reminds me of Dune, but obviously in the water.
Yeah, I think you're right. It's what I call "extreme filmmaking," and I made a few of these. White Squall (1996) was an extreme film because we were on the water for the whole of that, which was a Ridley Scott movie I did, and we were on the water for six months. Cliffhanger (1995), which I also did up on the Alps, and of course, those films we made in the 90s, they were all on camera as well. Everything you did was real. The interesting thing about this as well is that, because of the budget, we did a lot of this (filming and stunt work) for real. Of course, I'm not driving one of those boats, but they did do them for real, and I was given a few rides, and that was quite spectacular.

Of course, because [Zoran and Dom] understand visual effects, and there's an enormous amount of visual effects also in the movie, but a lot it was for real. We're on islands, it's tough, you're going everywhere by water, you're setting up, there are camera issues, we shot in this extraordinary place, which was an old submarine tunnel from the Second World War, so from that point of view, it is demanding. This isn't a studio movie where you drive your car, park outside, and then you just walk in, and everything is there inside waiting. We did the real thing, but I find that fun too, because you have a good time, as far as I'm concerned [laughs]. I don't mind getting up early and getting wet.

In terms of playing the Baroness, what did that role allow you to do that you don't typically do or don't do enough?
That's interesting. She's wonderful, nice, enigmatic, very strong, and mysterious. It's nice to play those notes and to use the kind of strength you have inside. She's out there to a certain extent as well. There's a little element of madness. You're never quite sure which side of the fence she's going to land on, so she's a bit dangerous as well, and then you realize she's trying hard to make things right. She wants justice, and she's searching for some kind of harmony, so there are all those lovely notes to play. She's badass, and it's fun being badass, especially at my age.

Storm Rider: The Legend of Hammerhead, which also stars Marco Ilsø, Billy Barratt, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Goran Bogdan,, and James Cosmo, is available in theaters.

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