The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Cast Reveal Favorite Set Memories, James Bond Connections, and The Key To Covert Teamwork
Based on a true story and brought to life by visionary Guy Ritchie comes The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It explores the only recently declassified covert mission of the Special Operation Executives who used unconventional tactics that contributed to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany. Organized by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, this group became the forerunners of modern-day black ops and irregular warfare and were even the inspiration for James Bond. Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado spoke with the cast of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare at their New York premiere.
Screenwriter Arash Amel was first introduced to the 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII by Damien Lewis by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and did “extensive” research into the secret Winston Churchill files. “I started with that and then I'm sure you've seen how wonderful our characters are. Our actors bounce off the screen,” he told me. “I researched every single character in terms of making sure they were either historically accurate or amalgamating others to give us an essence of giving you a fun ride and a fun movie.”
Amel called Winston Churchill the “key” behind the mad covert team that we see come together in the film. “He was the maverick. He was also the one that decided that he was going to do this no matter what,” he said. “The essence of every single character — and may I say James Bond that was inspired by these characters — all really flow from him. Their camaraderie, their humor is really important. It’s key to that connection.”
There are two important connections to everyone’s favorite spy James Bond in this film, specifically the author of the books. “The Easter egg is Ian Fleming. He was such an integral role in organizing this mission, in being the key intelligence operative that was masterminding it with M,” said Amel. “That was another little Easter egg that the character Cary Elwes plays is the forerunner to the character that Judy Dench eventually played in the Bond movies.”
What's the secret sauce behind this special espionage team? “Any team needs to be diverse and well-rounded and everyone needs to balance each other out. In this film, the characters certainly do. I mean, Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill) handpicks this bunch of crazy people and they all bring something different to the table,” said Hero Fiennes Tiffin. “That's the key to any team is to all have different departments you excel in.”
Meanwhile Henrique Zaga was in awe of the entire team on this production. “Hard work. Diverse, good people. Good energy on set. Professionalism. We were really lucky in this production, just having the most wonderful performers in front and behind the cameras. I felt like everybody brought their A game and I think that's what the secret sauce is,” he said, explaining that his character Captain Binea is mostly drunk through the film. “You get to set, you play it, and then Guy [Ritchie] tells you, ‘Double it, double it.’ So, yeah, it was pretty awesome just to hear him say that. It was rewarding to just be allowed to play.”
The trio shared their favorite moments on set. “There was a pretty epic moment when you see all those UB boats exploding. We did that practically in the Mediterranean. That was pretty awesome. Just arriving on my first day in this 800-year old ruin — it was a camel market back in the day — and we had our casino set in it, that was really special,” said Zaga, while Tiffin shared: “Any moment where I'm confidently walking through Nazis with a sten gun. As a teenage boy, that's a dream come true being in a Guy Ritchie movie, with a gun, racking up numbers.”
“My favorite moment was actually a moment that wasn't in the script which was Eiza [Gonzalez] singing “Mack the Knife” in German, which actually came out as a result of the scenes that we put into place. I think Guy found out that she could sing and was like, ‘We’re going to do a song,’” said Amel. “But my favorite sequence of what I actually wrote was the opening sequence in the camp where you see them going through the Nazi base and killing a lot of Nazis, which is what this movie is all about.”
It’s time to kick some Axis when The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare hits theaters on April 19.
