Cavill couldn’t totally shake the knowledge that his character was a major influence on Bond’s creation.
Guy Ritchie’s new movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is not only based on true events — loosely — but specifically, based on declassified files from the British navy, and features some of the real-life characters who inspired James Bond. Ian Fleming, who himself was part of the unit, and reportedly based Bond on the memory of a fellow soldier who didn’t make it through the war — here, played by Cavill. The story centers on a blue collar and ragtag group of military officials, and exudes the kind of retro-spy energy that defines movies like Kingsman. Cavill lends a fun energy to the trailer, too, with an expressive, over-the-top performance and a wild beard.
While that doesn’t necessarily sound too Bond-like, you can trust that any British action star playing a character like this is going to have a little bit of that DNA in the performance. Cavill explained his process to us during an interview in support of the film.
“Via the script, actually. That was my first access point, and then I read the book, which the script was based upon, and that’s where I got all my info,” Cavill said. “Then, really, we kind of just created this hyperbolic version of this character to fit into this movie. But there’s not a huge amount written about these guys, because they were obviously fairly ‘Secret Squirrel’ types.”
He added, “Major Gus March-Phillips, the character I play, was also an amateur poet and author, and he has written a book — I believe — with a character that was based upon the kind of adventures he had had. And had he not died during World War II, there’s a chance he would have beaten Ian Fleming to the punch of writing a James Bond-type character.”
Here’s the official synopsis for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare:
Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming. The top-secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, goes on a daring mission against the Nazis using entirely unconventional and utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques. Ultimately their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare.
Directed and co-written for the screen by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Gentlemen, Wrath of Man), and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun: Maverick, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure), The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare stars Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Eiza González (Baby Driver), Alan Ritchson (TV’s Reacher), Alex Pettyfer (In Time), Hero Fiennes Tiffin (After series), Babs Olusamokun (Dune), Henrique Zaga (Beyond the Universe), Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds), with Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride).
Lionsgate presents, in association with Black Bear, a Jerry Bruckheimer Films / Toff Guy production. Screenplay by Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson and Arash Amel & Guy Ritchie. Directed by Guy Ritchie.
