Even Holtzman Is Part of Something Bigger Than Himself on “Warfare”

Looking out of a hole in the wall through a scope for hours, reporting any minute movement through coded language. A sniper asks his partner to swap so that he can stretch his body. They change spots like clockwork and resume this borderline mundane work. Although this scene is the calm before the storm, it is representative of how the film “Warfare” functions. Co-directed by Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland, the new A24 production zeroes in on a group of American soldiers as their operation goes array during the Iraq war. “Warfare” doesn’t have a traditional lead, it bounces between the different men as their dire situation challenges the chain of command. The ensemble cast is stacked with the new generation of upcoming actors such as Will Poulter, Charles Melton, and Joseph Quinn. Among them is Evan Holtzman who plays Brock, who we spoke to ahead of the film’s release. 

Photographer, Raul Romo and stylist, Mark Holmes.

“I can't really put it into words with how amazing it is to see a friend express this story that he's wanted to tell for so long and to do so at the top of the game in the visual storytelling medium.” Holtzman has known one of the co-directors, Ray Mendoza, for almost ten years now. Mendoza is a stunt coordinator and Iraq war veteran, he has drawn from his and his teammate's memories of a real-life event to craft the precise and unromantic vision of combat that marks his feature film debut. In order to achieve such authenticity, the entire cast had to commit to the approach. “It's a bit of a dance and certainly a new language with the radio etiquette. A lot of the takes we were doing were 10-15 minutes long.”

Holtzman was cast in his role a couple of months before shooting which allowed him to not only hit the gym but also study the real life individual he was portraying. Every character in the film is based on an actual soldier from the mission, none of the real people were combined into one character for dramatic purposes (which is often the case in adaptations of actual events). Three weeks before shooting started, Holtzman landed in London along with the rest of the cast for a bootcamp. “We all buzzed each other's heads on day one.” From the get go, Holtzman could sense that the ensemble was especially committed to the type of film his friend was trying to make. “Everybody knew the assignment, showed up, dropped their ego and was there to help tell the story as authentically as possible and to the best of their ability.” 

The deeply choral approach to the film bled into that cast’s dynamic off set, they all stayed together in the same hotel throughout the entire training and shooting process. “We would eat, sleep, and drink together. Whenever we weren't filming, we'd take the train down into London and go party.”

Once on set, however, everyone was pulling in the same direction. “I know how much this means to Ray, and I'm someone who takes my job very seriously, so we're not there to goof around.” During production the co-directors would focus on different sides of the craft. Garland, a veteran director (Ex-Machina, Annihilation, Civil War), would focus on the technical execution of the film while Mendoza keyed in on the cast. He adapted the chain-of-command method he learned while serving to block and direct everyone. “Ray would give a directive to Will Poulter, who was the leader of OP1, and we would disseminate the information. We got to experience what it's like to take commands from our senior leadership. It made our bond even stronger, rather than breaking character and going back to the traditional way where you’re being directed as an actor.”

The film observes these men strictly within the confines of this one operation, they function  like a single organism fending off threats and trying to stay calm. Cracks begin to show in their foundation as the tension rises. Holtzman’s Brock, "has a very different way of looking at fear” which at times clashes with the general mood of the team. “If he could, he would chase down fear and shove a grenade down its throat.”

As he gets to celebrate the film they’ve all made together, Holtzman looks back at it all with a strong sense of accomplishment. “It’s like looking at a picture of yourself at the top of Mount Everest, it takes you back to all the preparation and work it took to get to that picture… I truly think we’ve made a perfect film. (Warfare) accomplished exactly what it set out to do.”

You can see Holtzman in “Warfare” exclusively in cinemas.