Warfare star hails honest portrayal of war and calls other movies 'a lie'
Warfare has never quite been depicted in the way it is in Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza's film of the same name, with a level of authenticity that doesn't glorify or shy away from the brutality of it, which is something star D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai tells Yahoo UK he hopes will make the film a warning.
The film recounts the experiences that Iraq veteran Mendoza and his fellow Navy Seals faced in real life in 2006, when they had to fight their way out of a hideout when attacked by enemy combatants. Not only is it an unflinching depiction of what they experienced it also features a cast who are the age they actually were when they were sent to fight — something not often seen in Hollywood.
It's because of this that Woon-A-Tai, who plays Mendoza, hopes the film will encourage lawmakers and leaders to rethink their actions: "If I may speak personally, I just hope that whomever decides to start wars, or to send people to wars, I hope they watch this film and see how young the people that they're sending out to the front lines are. I feel like in other Hollywood films, the depiction of how young the soldiers are is a lie.
"I feel like we see them a lot older than they really are, and that's one of the great accomplishments of this film that I'm proud of is the fact of how young we are depicted, because a lot of the men that we played were in their early 20s, basically kids.
So for the people to see kids on the front lines instead of your 30 year old buff guy, and just see a kid there it's a different experience and I hope people who do make those decisions, or who do vote for wars or whatever the case may be, really acknowledges who they're sending to these front lines. This film really does show the consequences of those decisions."
The actor who made his name in Reservation Dogs is part of an incredible ensemble which includes the likes of Kit Connor, Cosmo Jarvis, Will Poulter, Michael Gandolfini, and Joseph Quinn amongst many others. It is a story of brotherhood in an impossibly difficult situation.
Gandolfini, who plays Lt. Macdonald, hailed Mendoza and Garland's approach to the narrative, sharing: "The point is to tell the most honest depiction of what happened that day and through that honesty came a lot of consequences of that day, and a lot of very painful things came out of that day and that's just the facts.
"Alex and Ray, as men, are two of the most honest people I've ever met and it's touching and inspiring and incredible, and they were there every day to ensure that the most honest depiction of humanity in this situation of these men were being accurately depicted, and they did that with such class and excitement.
"There would be moments that someone may have an idea that would be great in the film, but if it didn't happen it didn't happen, can't be added, and so they were our leaders completely in this whole thing."
Connor remarked that it "was a lot" for the cast but it was also an important thing for them to do in order to achieve Mendoza's vision.
"There was definitely an undertaking for sure," he explains. "I think we all worked very hard, but we wanted to work very hard. It was a product of a lot of things, honesty was the main priority. We wanted to make sure that everything was truthful and that every action was everything that happened to them.
"The film is based on these people's memories and everything's been corroborated through these memories. So filling in the gaps and trying to work our characters would do —if we were waiting for five minutes for attack or for Bradley to come up— and we wanted that to feel truthful and authentic."
"It was definitely difficult at times," the Heartstopper actor went on. "It had its challenges, but the fact that we all had this bond and this supportive nurturing environment [helped].
"It was a very, very loving and supportive environment to come to work to every day. It was like every I wanted to come to work, everyday I was really happy to be there and happy to be with all of these people. I feel the same now promoting the movie, I'm happy to be here with everyone and to talk about this film because I think it's really important."
Warfare premieres in cinemas on Friday, 18 April.
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