00:00You guys looking at me like...
00:02It's just little Alex.
00:04Little Al.
00:06Henry Cavill is leading a ragtag group of ungentlemanly men
00:10in Guy Ritchie's latest film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
00:14The film, based on real historical events, follows Operation Postmaster,
00:18where a top-secret combat unit known as the Special Operations Executive
00:21used unconventional practices to battle the Nazis during World War II.
00:25The SOE also influenced the classic James Bond novels from Ian Fleming.
00:30The cast, including Cavill, Henry Golding, Hero Finds Tiffin, Alex Pettifer,
00:35and director Ritchie, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter
00:37about rounding up this group of misfits.
00:39What makes this group, Alan, the Henrys, Alex, and Hero,
00:43the perfect, ungentlemanly men?
00:46There was some great director that said...
00:49...about directing's really 90% of its casting.
00:53So, as long as you cast the requisite miscreants for this particular endeavor,
01:02then really the rest of it takes place, takes care of itself after that.
01:07The film is, of course, loosely based on history,
01:09with many of the characters created for the film.
01:12However, Cavill and Pettifer's characters were based on real-life historical figures.
01:16What was the most surprising thing you learned while researching these characters?
01:21Oh, I've just recently learned that Major Gus Marsh Phillips was an amateur poet and author,
01:26and he wrote a novel based upon the adventures that he had been on with the SOE,
01:34and had he not died during World War II,
01:37he might have beaten Ian Fleming to writing a Bond-like series of books.
01:41I was waiting for a poem.
01:45I haven't memorized it.
01:48Yeah, do you have any of these poems memorized?
01:50Can you recite one for us right now?
01:52Yeah, go on, give it a go.
01:53No, no, I don't.
01:55There was an old lady from...
01:56Another cast member based on history was Alan Richson,
02:01who plays Anders Lassen,
02:03known for definitely using some unconventional fighting methods during the war.
02:07What was the fight training like for you all?
02:09Did you all do most of your own stunts, or how did that work?
02:12Alan did all the hard work there.
02:14Sadly, you don't have Alan today.
02:16Yeah.
02:16And Alan is the man you need to ask that question.
02:21Henry Golday, I was going to ask,
02:22I didn't know if any of your sword training from Snake Eyes helped out for this at all, but...
02:28No, no, sadly not.
02:30A lot of the, like the boy said,
02:32a lot of the close hand-to-hand combat,
02:34Alan got a lot of it.
02:36But actually, Alex was a bit tasty on screen as well.
02:39He had a couple bits.
02:40Are you a bit jealous of a lot?
02:41I was so jealous that I was put in a bolt hole,
02:44and then unfortunately I decided when I was watching Alan doing what he does best,
02:49I felt the need to want to have, like, maybe 2% of the activities.
02:56Henry, you called Alan Big Al on Instagram.
03:00I do.
03:00Is that an alter ego he had on set?
03:02And did any of the rest of you guys get any fun nicknames?
03:06No, I've never called Alan Big Al apart from that one time.
03:10And as I said in the post,
03:14it just felt appropriate in the vacuum that is Instagram.
03:17We had two Henrys.
03:18We had Hero's character name was Henry,
03:20and Alex, I won't tell you what his nickname was.
03:24A bit rude.
03:26Uh-oh.
03:27We gotta hear it.
03:28I mean, yeah, we don't think we had a nickname.
03:29The guy's looking at me like,
03:31It was just little Alex.
03:34Little Al.
03:35Big Al.
03:35And while they may be playing the most ungentlemanly of men,
03:39the cast is anything but.
03:40What would you say is the most gentlemanly thing about the man sitting next to you?
03:46Would I do Guy or would I do Henry?
03:48You will do Henry and then we'll go around and then Alex can do Guy.
03:51Okay.
03:52Better be good.
03:55I like this.
03:57Henry Cavill stands up whenever a lady walks into a room.
04:02And he's been consistent with that all the way through.
04:04I made two movies with him,
04:06and I'm in a room with him all the time when I'm making those movies.
04:09And you have never failed to stand up when a lady walks in the room.
04:12There you go.
04:14Henry's manners are impeccable.
04:17He's always incredibly polite.
04:19There's no point where he's losing that sense of decorum and effing and blinding on set.
04:25Hero is everything I wanted to be when I was his age.
04:30I think he's got such a strong head on his shoulders,
04:33an amazing career ahead of him.
04:35Quite jealous of the fact that he's so young, handsome.
04:40But the most humble, humble young man.
04:43The first night that we all met each other at the hotel we were staying at,
04:47the night before filming, Alex was the one who organized the WhatsApp group
04:50and got us all together and put it to the table and got us to sit down.
04:53And he'd done his homework on all of us and was very complimentary.
04:58And I remember going back to my room from that dinner thinking,
05:01what a stand-up guy.
05:02I, I, I...
05:03Good luck.
05:08Go on.
05:08Let's take it to him.
05:11Let's take it to him.
05:11Let's take it to him.
05:11Let's take it to him.
05:12Let's take it to him.
05:13Let's take it to him.
05:15I think, I think opportunity.
05:18Guy presents opportunity for people and guides you in a way that I can't put into words or articulate.
05:27I mean...
05:27Well, you want to.
05:28I want to.
05:29I want to.
05:30But, um, yeah, he has given me an opportunity that I will forever be grateful for because
05:36I sit on this couch per one with a band of brothers that I can honestly say I love.
05:42And, um, I had the most fun experience on this set that I've ever had on any film.
05:49And that is genuinely because of Guy.
05:55It's very good.
05:56For more on this interview, head to THR.com.
06:01And for the latest entertainment news and updates, keep watching The Hollywood Reporter News.
Comments