Wagner Moura talks about his disturbing experience filming “Civil War”

in Civil war, the apocalyptic new warning film from A24 and Alex Garland, there’s a scene at the end of Act II where a machine-gun-wielding Jesse Plemons asks Wagner Moura: “What kind of American are you?” When Moura was filming in Atlanta two years ago, the unsettling threat inherent in that line awakened a dormant nightmare in the actor. “I’m an American citizen, but I have an accent and I’m not from here,” Mora says. “It made me start thinking, what if I was driving somewhere deep in the United States and I stopped at a gas station and someone asked me where I was from or what I was doing there?” How will I react?

Moura, who began a successful acting career in his native Brazil before breaking out more widely with the role of Pablo Escobar in Drugs: Mexico, stars — along with Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson — as Reuters journalists documenting the end of American democracy as we know it. The film’s rhetoric has largely preceded its April 12 release. The film’s SXSW premiere left viewers simultaneously exhilarated and frightened by the ways in which Garland depicts the consequences of the nation’s deep divisions.

Above the soft drink fountain THR In the cafeteria, Moura (who went to journalism school before becoming an actor) speaks passionately about his love for the quality of the film and its stars, but becomes saddened by the thought of its real-life implications and the depth of its impact on viewers. “I was really devastated after that,” he says as he returns to the scene with Plemons. “We shot that part for two days, and then I lay in the grass and cried.”

Many people have talked about the backstory – or lack thereof – of the Civil War on screen, and how Texas and California cooperated. Did Alex give you more information to the actors than to the viewers?

he did not do. I think it’s a great move in terms of screenwriting, but also when I think about movies I’ve seen about American troops in Iraq or Afghanistan, they don’t explain the situation. They’re just there, and then things happen. I think it’s smart for him not to have an ideological agenda. People expect war to be along liberal or conservative lines, and it’s about war in general and how terrible the consequences of a polarized situation are. I don’t believe in saying that a movie has a certain message because everyone has their own reading, but for me it’s about the horror of war.

Did you need to create any kind of backstory for your character, Joel, to be able to play him effectively? What kind of understanding did you have of his motivations as a journalist or as a citizen who went through war himself?

In fact, I studied journalism in college, and worked as a journalist early in my career. But I never played a role as an actor until I did a series called Bright girlsWith Elisabeth Moss. Most of my closest friends are journalists, so I reached out to people while preparing for this role. But that was an investigation, and war journalism is something else entirely – the experiences they have in war zones, it’s similar to what happens to soldiers. They come home and shit doesn’t make sense anymore. To prepare for this film, I read several books about combat journalism, and my friends put me in touch with some people to talk to. I wasn’t looking for an intellectual understanding of the character as much as what he would feel in his body. How do you feel as a civilian in a war zone? I learned that time often passes very differently.

What did you know about this film before you started talking about being in it?

Nothing until I read the script, and the first time I read it I really felt like this was no ordinary project. I’m a very political person – the only film I’ve directed so far was also a very political film – so that was something I cared a lot about. I remember I was staying at a house in Laurel Canyon during the pandemic, and I got on a Zoom call with Alex and we really connected. We had met before, when he was shooting another movie. It didn’t work out for me, but this time Alex said, “Listen, I want you in the movie. I have to talk to A24, but you’re the one I want.”

How did photography affect you compared to your previous work?

Please don’t feel like this is bullshit coming from an actor, because it’s absolutely true for me. When I did Narcos, which was a heavy thing, I would do scenes where I was killing or doing terrible things, I would finish the scene, and my mind would keep moving forward. I was thinking, “I’m going to drink a beer or I’m going to have to call my son or I’m going to have to pay that bill.” But my body doesn’t know I’ve moved. I’m going to buy a course, and the glass in my hand is shaking like crazy. This doesn’t go away, it takes a toll.

How long did it take after packaging? Civil war To get back to normal?

I don’t know. Somehow, it’s still there.

Especially in the third act, which I won’t spoil for people, this action feels quite physical.

Some of the actors used earplugs during filming, but I wanted to hear and feel every boom. It was very difficult, and when we were filming those scenes at the end, Kylie and I used to run to warm up between takes. Your body should really be telling you.

Do you think about our political climate differently now?

I am a liberal and leftist man. I’ve always had a more confrontational attitude about it. Very “fuck you”. But now, I really try to listen to people who think differently. As long as you’re not racist or homophobic or any of that crazy bullshit, if you think the country should handle things differently, I’m willing to talk to you. I’m a jiu-jitsu guy, and in this community most people are very conservative. I try to talk less and listen more.

I read some quotes from Alex where he points out that at a definitional level, democracy versus republic is supposed to just depend on your views on how the government makes decisions, but we turned it into this blanket characterization.

I think we should really avoid that. You said something during our SXSW panel that might seem controversial. I’m from Brazil, and the situation is very polarized as well. We had a similar reaction to our last election, where people didn’t accept the results and invaded, but the country was very quick to send people to prison because they had been under a heavy dictatorship for 20 years. They know what an authoritarian regime is; I was born during that period. They understand that democracy is not a given. I think Americans sometimes take democracy for granted because they are used to it. I care about this country and what happens to its government. I know this is why Civil war scary. It’s not an alien invasion, like independence day. It feels very realistic.

The thing that struck me was seeing these images that we’ve become almost desensitized to in other countries – what’s happening in Gaza right now, for example – happening here to people who could be us.

There’s cognitive dissonance, and you don’t get that when you watch this.

How did the main cast work together and succeed on film?

Seventy percent of the movie was us in the car, just the four of us — me, Kirsten, Kylie, Steven. It could have gone badly, but it was joy. Kirsten – and Jesse – they’re two connected people. Stephen is a good person, and I learned a lot from him. And Kylie was so cool. She loved old music like Dolly Parton, and would play American songs from the 1950s that I didn’t know. And I played her Brazilian music.

What would make this movie and this experience feel successful to you (or does it already)?

I am proud of this movie. I always try to do things that interest me as a citizen and an artist, or things that I will learn from. Things don’t always end up this way, but I try. This, I think, is the holy grail. It’s a huge movie that people will see, and it has something to say. I also think about exposure – if people will see me. I became a famous actor in Brazil, and then I did it Narcos, which was a huge hit, so I took the success for granted. And now I’m thinking about how to enjoy everything. We don’t know how Civil war It will be well received, but it already feels like a major accomplishment.

This story first appeared in the March 27 issue of the magazine Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.