Civil War director Alex Garland returns to the front lines with Warfare, a movie that, rather than explore the possibility of a fictional war in the near future, takes a look back to the United States’ invasion of Iraq in the early 2000s. Garland had help in the form of Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza, who co-wrote and co-directed the movie. Early reviews point to the film being another winning critical release from A224, as it sits with a 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

As seen in this Warfare featurette, Garland and Mendoza aimed to bring out the most accurate performances possible from the film’s stars, and they ᴀssembled a cast whose previous projects and name recognition immediately suggested they’d be up for the challenge. Warfare’s cast includes Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), Will Poulter (The Bear), Cosmo Jarvis (Shōgun), Charles Melton (May December), Kit Connor (The Wild Robot), and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs). The actors even went through a boot camp scenario to more fully understand the life of a United States soldier.

ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan interviewed the stars of Warfare about their work on the film. They discussed getting in the right state of mind to bring audiences what ScreenRant’s Warfare review praisefully called “90 minutes of hell” and how they created their own soldier-like bond with each other. Plus, they shared their initial conversations with Garland and Mendoza inviting them into–and warning them about–the filmmaking process.

Alex Garland & Ray Mendoza Started Directing Long Before The Cameras Rolled

“Alex & Ray Immediately Set Us Up With This Hierarchical Structure”

A director’s work on a movie doesn’t begin when the first “action” is said, as they can be involved with everything from writing to casting to production design. Still, Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza had very different conversations with the stars of Warfare than they might for another film. According to D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, “Alex and Ray had this vetting process of meeting with everyone individually and letting them know, ‘It’s going to be very intense. This is what we’re doing.’” Woon-A-Tai continued, saying that the conversation made it clear the movie “required a full commitment from each of us.”

Kit Connor weighed in on the pre-production influence of the directors as well. When discussing his time in Warfare’s boot camp, he said, “I think that was one of the most unorthodox aspects, but also, I think, one of the strongest aspects of the process. Alex and Ray immediately set us up with this hierarchical structure, appointing Will, Charles, and Joe as the leaders of the group, as their characters are.” In that way, the directors helped ensure the actors were not only physically ready to embrace Warfare, but in the right mental groove as well.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Warfare’s Stars Reveal How Brotherhood Was Forged In Boot Camp

“We’re Spending Every Waking Moment [Together]”

Warfare is a movie designed to make audiences feel as immersed in its battleground setting as possible, but to do that, the actors had to feel the same way. To achieve that end, they all participated in a boot camp designed to increase what Will Poulter called their “military literacy”. The camp involved creating the aforementioned hierarchical structure in which certain cast members were higher-ranked than others, and also saw the actors spending virtually all of their time together.

“I was really surprised with how everyone stepped up,” Charles Melton shared, continuing, “everything was very regimented and precise when it came to us leaving base camp to go to the marquee, which is this hanger we would be at before we went on set. Everybody had watches, and Will was giving check times, like, ‘Be here by 0615, fully rigged up by 0645’–the culture was incredible.” “We all practiced military time,” Poulter added, “which I think took some getting used to.”

In the words of D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, “The boot camp really informed the bond that that just happened naturally … You’re spending every second, every meal, and everything [together]. It’s not like, ‘Hey, let’s get a coffee’–we’re spending every waking moment [together], seeing every version of each other, and [are] kind of there for each other throughout the whole process.” The time together paid off, the actor believes, saying, “I became a better person at the end of the day because of each and every one of these guys.”

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Warfare is A Bleak Movie, Which Is Why Levity Was Key

“Otherwise, What’s The Point?”

Told in real time, Warfare is a 90-minute slice of life from one of the most harrowing projects in modern American history. Even so, there are moments of lightness that the Warfare cast believed were crucial to its storytelling. In Kit Connor’s words, “the levity was actually really important to maintain [our bond] and keep this love between us all, so that would also infuse itself into the weightier aspects of the film.”

Cosmo Jarvis echoed the statement, revealing that some comedic inspiration came from Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza himself: “Even though there’s this huge amount of attention to the protocol and communication rules and safety with firearms … there are also just, in him, moments of really good humor.” He continued, saying, “It made sense that guys in that occupation who were in the thick of it like that [would] also have a good time together. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

Joseph Quinn weighed in as well, suggesting the cast often had a surprisingly fun time shooting the film: “We had a lot of fun amongst all of the very delicate and sensitive things that we had to cover … It was a treat getting to work with such talented people. They are all very charismatic and very funny people, so, especially on a film like this where you’re spending a lot of time together, we had a great time amidst some of the challenges.”