A TEAM of Bournemouth athletes will use their sporting skills in a new action film featuring former Incredible Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno.

World boxing champion Denise Castle, American football player Shaun Smith, Muaythai champion Lorne Castle and bodyguard Marc Smith joined the cast in director Ara Paiaya’s latest martial arts film, Instant Death.

In it they play an elite team of mercenaries who take on a special forces' veteran out for revenge.

Lorne Castle said real fighters and athletes were drafted in to create realistic fight scenes. “They were designed to [utilise] Lou’s size and strength, rather than CGI and acrobatic moves like in many modern films - the audience will watch the action and actually be able to relate to how the action flows.”

Denise Castle added: “Being our first time on set, we were all nervous, but Lou and the crew were very genuine and made the day enjoyable – Lou even stopped mid-scene one time to give me credit for my physique. I didn’t know what to say!”

A final year Bournemouth University student Georgia Brown was also appointed as Ferrigno’s personal make-up artist after impressing the film’s make-up and effects team.

Ferrigno said his character is similar in traits to his famous persona of The Hulk in that “he has a lot of pain and has lost loved ones”. The actor played the character in a hit television series in the 1970s and 80s before reprising his role in three The Incredible Hulk TV movies.

The Bournemouth crew impressed Ferrigno so much that he visited the town to host a private evening with 25 of his biggest Bournemouth-based fans in August.

During the evening he talked about his varied career, from his bodybuilding days with Arnold Schwarzenegger to his recent celebrity appearance with Donald Trump.

Instant Death is due out in 2016.