Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson hope A House of Dynamite teaches its audience about the importance of choosing elected officials who will do their utmost to protect and serve.
The Netflix film, which focuses on what could happen if a rogue nuclear bomb is headed towards America, puts the politicians and officials making up Washington, D.C. on alert. Trey Mangum, Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor, sat with Elba, Ferguson and other cast members about how they approached their roles.
Idris Elba on playing the POTUS
“This film is gonna educate people about the process of what it means to vote someone into power,” Elba said, who plays the President of the United States in the film. “Ultimately, in this film, when it comes to a nuclear situation, that person has sole authority. But he [Elba’s character] has sole authority by gathering all the information from people that work in situation rooms and the people that are closer to the source of the information.”
“Ultimately, he has to make that decision based on it, on what he’s learned, and I’m hoping that the film really gives people that perspective,” he continued. “Cause for me, after I made this film, it really opened up Pandora’s Box for me. I’d say, ‘Wow. I didn’t realize how fragile we are as human beings. I mean, completely fragile. The House of Dynamite actually has a box of matches in it. That’s crazy to me, you know?”
Rebecca Ferguson on officials dealing with deadly situations
Ferguson, who plays Captain Olivia Walker, also talked about how officials have to continue living despite dealing with deadly situations.
“It’s very easy to look at these people as highly trained, professional officers within a situation. And I think [writer Noah Oppenheim] did it so well. And I think starting off the film in a home environment that we can relate to, that gives us more emotion to a scenario, to looking at these people as human beings with cracks and flaws and fears. Yet they have to suppress all of that to just do their job.”
“And in different rooms, we educate, we give the President information in real time,” she continued. “You know, I’m a switchboard basically, but the highest level, I decide what the president needs, who the president needs to talk to, and if the person isn’t there within 18 minutes, who can I get on that he will need to talk to so that he can then make the decision to retaliate or not. It’s under pressure, and these people are there the second [they are needed], and they train 400 times a year for this. The President isn’t trained once.”
Watch the full interviews with Elba, Ferguson and fellow cast members Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos and Jason Clarke, below.
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, A House of Dynamite is now in select theaters ahead of its Netflix Oct. 24 debut.