Kit Connor is proud of the camaraderie he developed with his costars while filming A24’s new movie Warfare.
During a Q&A that followed a March 22 screening of the film in Tampa, Florida, the 21-year-old Heartbreakers actor said the movie’s cast gathered together for a bonding experience early on in production — shaving their heads.
“I know that we all wanted to create this brotherhood and create this bond because that would make our jobs a lot easier,” Connor, who attended the screening with costars D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Will Poulter and Michael Gandolfini, said, according to IndieWire. “So the first thing that we did on our first night was shave each other’s heads, which was something that excited us all and it felt slightly ritualistic. We suddenly felt like we were immediately vulnerable with each other and it just felt like we had each other’s backs.”
He added, “We trained. We ate together. We would do everything together. We practically lived in each other’s pockets for about two months.”
Related: Rachel Zegler Says Goodbye to Broadway as Romeo + Juliet with Kit Connor Ends Run: ‘Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow’
Murray Close/A24
Michael Gandolfini, D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Adain Bradley in Warfare
The cast also includes actors like Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton and Shōgun‘s Cosmo Jarvis. “I think it really does come across in the film. There’s a real love between us all,” Connor said.
Warfare follows a group of American Navy SEALs on a dangerous real-life mission that occurred in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2006. It is directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, who previously collaborated on last year’s Civil War.
Mendoza is a former Navy SEAL; the movie is adapted from his memories and interviews with soldiers he served with at the time.
Rounding out the cast are actors Finn Bennett, Taylor John-Smith, Adain Bradley, Noah Centineo, Evan Holtzman and Henrique Zaga. Jarvis, 35, portrays a soldier who was seriously wounded during the incident portrayed in the film, while co-director Mendoza is portrayed by Reservation Dogs star Woon-A-Tai, 23.
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Murray Close/A24
Will Poulter in Warfare
“The bond that developed naturally through the training and the emotional side of things was taken care of,” Poulter said during the Q&A, according to IndieWire. “There was very little acting required because when I looked down and saw Joe Quinn [injured] I didn’t have to imagine that I cared for him in that moment. I’d spent every waking minute with him for the couple of months prior.”
“I’ve got close to cast members before, I’ve had really amazing life-affirming experiences,” Poulter added. “But there was nothing like this. And, of course, overlaid on that and perhaps bigger than anything else is the honor that comes with representing real life experiences and real life individuals.”
Warfare arrives in theaters on April 11.
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