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Will Poulter has highlighted the “ironic” reason his most underrated film didn’t become a box office hit.
The British actor, who can currently be seen in Warfare, has reflected on his career in a brand new interview with The Independent, picking the film he believes is deserving of more love.
Poulter made his screen debut as a 14-year-old in comedy Son of Rambow and, since then, has starred in comedy We’re the Millers, horror Midsommar and Marvel sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 – but its Detroit that Poulter selected for video series Go to Bat.
Kathryn Bigelow’s drama, released in 2017, is based on the Algiers Motel incident, which occurred during Detroit’s racially charged 1967 12th Street Riot.
The incident saw members of the police and army carry out horrific acts on civilians, which resulted in the death of three Black teenagers. The film was well-received by critics, but was a box office flop.
“I don’t want to misrepresent where the film was successful, but Detroit comes to mind,” Poulter said when asked which film he wanted to go to bat for.
“It came out at a time almost exactly 50 years after the date that the event we were depicting happened, and at that time, America was especially turbulent in respect to how the African American community was being treated by police – there was a lot of sociopolitical unrest in America at that time.”
Poulter continued: “It was sort of ironic that the film was trying to draw attention to it and it garnering that attention was difficultt, because I think folks were struggling to reckon with something that was holding up a mirror to society Also, asking people to confront something that was very very present at the time – it almost felt too painful for people to confront.”
The acor’s latest film, Warfare, is just as hard-hitting as Detroit. The film, co-written and directed byAlex Garland and Ray Mendoza, is a re-enactment of a 2006 incident that former US Navy SEAL Mendoza experienced in Iraq.
Watch the full interview with Poulter above.
English (US) ·