Original-Cin Q&A: The stars of Sam Mendes' 1917 talk about lengthy single shots, and carrying a war film on their shoulders
The World War I epic 1917 is a movie that must be seen in all its glory on the big screen. The immersive new war film from director Sam Mendes is garnering attention for being filmed to look like one long camera shot, with Oscar-winning Cinematographer Roger Deakins behind the lens.
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (Captain Fantastic’s George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones’ Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop an Allied force from following retreating German troops into a trap – one that could kill 1,500 men, Blake’s own brother among them. The movie unfolds in real-time, bringing audiences into the trenches with Blake and Schofield.
Our Bonnie Laufer sat down with the film’s two stars George MacKay and Dean Charles Chapman to discuss their experience making this film.
1917 opens in select theaters on December 25th and wider across the Country on January 10th.
To watch Bonnie’s interview with Krysty Wilson-Cairns the screenwriter of 1917, please click here.
George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman are lance corporals trying to prevent a massacre in 1917.
ORIGINAL-CIN: This is by far one of the most intense War films I have seen in years. What were your initial reactions when Sam Mendes approached you with the script?
DEAN-CHARLES CHAPMAN: “I was just so pleased to be a part of it and get the opportunity to work with people like Sam, Roger Deakins and George. We had three auditions before we found out we got the roles. For the first two, I was only sent one scene. I wasn’t sent the whole script, so I didn’t have too much to go on. But luckily I did it good enough and thank god I’m here.” (Laughs)
GEORGE MacKAY: “When I found out I got the part I was actually at the theatre in London seeing Sam’s play, The Lehmann Trilogy.
“I had been calling my agent all day asking if she had heard anything because I was so anxious and on edge about getting the role. So at the end of the play, I had switched on my phone and there was a text that had come in from her asking me to meet her after the play to say hi, because she happened to be there too.
“So we met up and she told me that she had just gotten a text from the casting director confirming that I had gotten the part. I just remember picking up my agent and swinging her around in sheer joy!”
OC: From what I understand, when you initially went into your auditions you did not know that Sam was intending to shoot the film in one shot.
MacKAY: “We found out during our second audition, and I didn’t even get to read the entire script until after I was cast. So the second meeting was with Sam to do the audition scene and he explained his vision. We didn’t know before, and once we found out, I have to admit I was really excited about what that meant and how we were going to pull it off.”
CHAPMAN: “We never got to read a script, so I learnt a few pages from this one scene that we were given. Then Sam told me, personally, it was going to be a one-shot and I have to admit I was nervous. It blew my mind.”
OC: What kind of pressure does that put on you as actors? How does it change or affect your thinking about making a movie?
CHAPMAN: “You don’t want to be the one to screw it all up, which did end up happening quite a lot I will add.
“Thankfully, we rehearsed for six months before we started shooting, which included doing research together. We were training together with a military advisor.
“We had to figure out how long we needed the sets to be, because the scene needed to be the length of the set, and the set needed to be the length of the scene for every single take. It was really just a big choreographed dance between the actors and the camera with a rhythm and flow.
“Thankfully, within those six months we felt prepared when it came time to film. It was an actor’s dream to be able to do something like this. I have to admit all the prep seemed to go away when I first stepped on set. Lines were re-written on the fly and placements adjusted at the last minute. But after I got over that initial shock it was okay.”
OC: The film focuses on these two soldiers who are literally thrown into war together, who never knew each other before. And then there’s you as actors who are thrown into this experience together. What was your bonding process like?
MacKAY: “It was mainly just time spent together. We initially met on the third audition, which we had together, so we prepared a scene and read together.
“Then Sam asked us if we wanted to do another scene together and I wasn’t sure what that meant to be honest. Did we work well together or not?
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Col. Mackenzie, whose troops are marching into a trap.
“In the end, we got the roles and then it was a long process over those six months really getting to know each other. We did everything together, spending all day together for the entire time. We would do military training in the mornings and spent time in the gym. We went to France with the production crew and then Dean and I did our own trip to Belgium. And I have to say, it’s hard not to get on with Dean. He is a wonderful man.”
CHAPMAN: “I feel the exact same way about this guy….”
MacKAY: “Dean is a fabulous and giving actor and I honestly couldn’t see myself doing this with anyone else.”
CHAPMAN: “What was brilliant was that we did it together, We both had never experienced anything like this before and we both came through it together. We were never alone or treated differently. We came as a package and learned the ropes from beginning to end on the same playing field.”
OC: The whole film is one huge exterior shot. It all takes place outdoors so of course you are at the mercy of the weather. This had to have added to the tension and pressure of getting things done without too many takes.
CHAPMAN: “We took full advantage of that wait time and we didn’t have any opportunity to sit around.
“Even though we could only shoot when the sun was behind the clouds, we would still use the time when the sun was exposed to rehearse. So if we weren’t shooting we were rehearsing and vice versa, and it was literally like that every single day.
“Some days we would rehearse a scene more than 20 times and then as soon as we could start we would shoot that scene maybe 20 or 30 times.”
OC: Sounds exhausting.
MacKAY: “It was, but more than that, so exhilarating!”
CHAPMAN: It was constantly full on making this movie and we were barely ever out of character. We rarely had time to come out of it.”
OC: As you say you are so immersed in this process and it is such an intense experience. What did you do besides sleep to relax at the end of each day?
MacKAY: “We don’t want it to sound like doom and gloom but we really just focused on the job. There’s a lot of hardship in the story, but we were all thrilled by what we were accomplishing here.
“And it was a proper team effort with the whole crew, and so there was a real positivity about trying to get it made, even through the hardships. So to be honest, there were a couple of nights after a real tough day, we would go out and get some food together and just decompress and catch up. Otherwise we would go home, crash out and be ready for the next day.”
OC: One of the things I love about this film is that is is smattered with cameo appearance by some big stars like Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott. They have important roles but they took a back seat to you guys and the mission.
CHAPMAN: Yeah, it was exciting and I was so thrilled to have the chance to work with every one of them. It never felt like they were there for just five minutes, even though their screen time might have been that long.
“But they worked just as hard as us getting the choreography of the shot just right. To be able to see what they brought to the table through their characters was just mind blowing.”
OC: There are so many memorable scenes in the film. But one I can’t stop thinking about is with you, George, running across a field in one direction with soldiers coming at you in the other direction, explosions going off all at the same time – all being shot in one continuous take. Truly unbelievable.
MacKAY: “I’m not going to lie. My heart was beating pretty hard before we started shooting that. I don’t know, you just go into it with everything you’ve got and you can’t think too hard about it.
“There’s a real clarity at that moment in the story and there’s so much going on. But I found so much purity in a sense for my character. That day was huge and very hard to sum up in a few words. But it was a massive collaboration between so many people, and we had been working for so long to get that shot.
“But yet, there is a beautiful simplicity to it. It was an awesome challenge and I am just thankful to have been a part of it.”