MANU Bennett, star of Spartacus, The Hobbit and Arrow, doesn’t muck about when it comes to creating realistic onscreen battles. Famously “authentic” in fight scenes he looks down on those who don’t share his commitment to playing rough.

“At the end of the day stories spin off about how dedicated I am to my roles and some people might go: ‘Gee we got scared by him when we were acting next to him’,” the New Zealand born Maori actor says.

“But when I see a guy chit-chatting on the side of the set, not warming up, not ready to go in there and throw their warrior spirit into a warrior series, then they best wake up because we’re not there to become Hollywood prima donnas.”

His warrior spirit was the reason Peter Jackson chose him to play terrifying orc Azog the Defiler in The Hobbittrilogy and his commitment to his work — which saw him “accidentally” choke a casting assistant into unconsciousness during his audition for Arrow — saw him selected to play supervillain Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke.

And he certainly hasn’t gone cute and cuddly for his latest role as Allanon, the powerful, manipulative, and secretive sole remaining Druid in MTV’s adaptation of epic fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles by Terry Brooks, a series of novels that’s shifted more than 21 million copies.

Riding a wave of interest thanks to Azog, Bennett says a show on MTV was the last thing he thought he’d end up doing — the channel normally home to low rent fare like Jersey Shore, 16 And Pregnant and Pimp My Ride. “I was hugely sceptical,” he admits adding it was only the presence of Iron Man director Jon Favreau on the creative team (originally as director, but later as executive producer) that convinced him it was something worthwhile.

“Who would’ve thought MTV is going for this kind of series? It’s like Cool Runnings” he adds, referring to the 1993 comedy about Jamaica’s Winter Olympics bobsled team, “You’re kind of rooting for them so much more avidly because it’s not expected.”

Based on the second Shannara novel (Brooks copped so much criticism for not including female characters in the first book, he made them front and centre in the second) the series follows the Elven nation as it comes under threat from a horde of demons coming through from a dimension they’ve been trapped in for eons.

Shot in New Zealand using many of the crew who worked on The Hobbit, the production design and special effects are suitably epic.

“You don’t switch the television on and expect to see stuff like this. I’ve taken the journey … I’ve felt the vibration of this story and it is pure. We’ve got what we set out to achieve,” he says.

And yes Arrow fans, Bennett doesn’t rule out Deathstroke’s return. “That’s something I know the fans are screaming out for,” he says, “And I always like to think we’re going to do stuff that’s good for the fans.”

The Shannara Chronicles, SyFy, Saturday, 7.30pm