Will Poulter chats with The Hollywood Reporter about his close collabs. From filming with Jennifer Aniston in 'We're the Millers' to working with other stars like Michael Keaton, Florence Pugh and more. Plus, he dishes all about his latest film 'Warfare.'
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00:00We did end up playing a prank on Jen.
00:02It's really funny, like I can sing that song like backwards,
00:06but there was something in me that was so nervous
00:08about how it was gonna go down that I like,
00:10in the moment, I think I forgot the lyrics.
00:12No one told you life was gonna be this way, you know?
00:15And I think the only thing I ended up remembering doing
00:17was the.
00:19Hi, my name is Will Poulter,
00:20and I'm here with The Hollywood Reporter,
00:22and I'm gonna be sharing some of my close collabs.
00:25I had like fanned out on Florence Pugh one time before
00:35I had seen her in Lady Macbeth,
00:39and saw she was amazing with Cosmo Jarvis
00:42and with my friend Naomi Ackie,
00:44and so I was so excited to get the chance
00:46to work with her on Midsommar.
00:48It's sort of crazy, she can go from being like
00:50the silliest person, joking around, having a laugh,
00:55like bantering with everybody,
00:56and then in an instant, she can be, you know,
01:01in the depths of despair, bawling her eyes out,
01:04you know, totally horrified,
01:06as she often was, you know, on Midsommar.
01:09And I was so amazed by her performance when I saw it live,
01:12but even more so when I watched the movie,
01:14like the sort of things that she's going through,
01:17the way that she plays grief,
01:19the way that she plays genuine horror,
01:21and the fact that she did all that
01:22while being such a fun kind of,
01:26and sort of like energetic kind of life force on set,
01:31I don't really know how she did that,
01:32it was kind of superhuman.
01:34I'm just gonna lay down, okay?
01:35Yeah, do that.
01:37Everybody else lay down.
01:43Withermillers was a surreal experience for me,
01:46just on the basis that, like, I was 19,
01:49and I was really, really lucky
01:52to be made to feel incredibly, like, welcome on set,
01:55and Jen kind of, like, typified that sort of friendly
02:01and welcoming energy that I received,
02:03and I was such a fan of hers.
02:05Like, Friends was one of my, like, ultimate shows growing up.
02:09Me and my sister collected the box sets
02:11and watched it incessantly
02:13and could quote virtually every line.
02:16I think I would have been heartbroken if she wasn't lovely,
02:20and she absolutely was.
02:20We did end up playing a prank on Jen.
02:23You know, there's a scene in the film
02:24where they put a song on the radio
02:26and everyone, like, sings along,
02:27and Jason set it up so that the Friends theme tune came on,
02:31and we all sang along to that,
02:32and I think it made it on, like, the DVD.
02:34It's really funny, like, I can sing that song, like,
02:37backwards, but there was something in me
02:39that was so nervous about how it was gonna go down
02:41that I, like, in the moment, I think I forgot the lyrics.
02:44No one told you life was gonna be this way, you know?
02:47And I think the only thing I ended up remembering doing
02:49was the, because I was, like, so nervous, so silly.
02:54Hi, Mom.
02:55Jesus.
02:59Michael was amazing to me.
03:01Like, I don't know if I've had an experience
03:04with another actor where they've kind of put their arm
03:06over my shoulder, like, quite so much.
03:08Like, he was so supportive,
03:10and I can remember the scene where I come into his office
03:13and he himself is sort of gripped by addiction.
03:16He's struggling with opioid abuse disorder,
03:19and seeing him in sort of in that state
03:23and not getting the chance to kind of, like,
03:24talk to him earlier in the day and kind of, like,
03:26shoot the shit and just walking in and seeing him like that
03:28was really, like, heartbreaking and genuinely really moving,
03:33and I kind of didn't really have to, like, do any acting.
03:36I was just, like, crushed to see him
03:38be as convincing in that state.
03:41It's so poison, boy.
03:45What's that?
03:46It's so poison.
03:47That's what you do.
03:48That's just poison.
03:53I, like, couldn't have been a bigger fan of the show,
03:56and that's kind of how the journey started for me
03:58in the sense I was a huge fan,
03:59kind of, like, asked to be on the show,
04:00and Io, you know, and Jeremy,
04:03both of their performances are, like,
04:04so brilliant in the show,
04:06and so getting the chance to work on The Bear
04:10in season two with Lionel was amazing,
04:13like, genuinely a life-changing experience.
04:16It was a kind of dream come true for me to play a chef,
04:18and then in season three, I got to cross over with Io
04:23in this really interesting, kind of meaningful way,
04:26and she's so fun to do scenes with.
04:30I think she's such a brilliant actor.
04:32You know, comedy and drama chops
04:34are just, like, equally as strong,
04:36and she's an insane talent.
04:38I thought her episode, Napkins, of season three
04:42was one of the best episodes of the season.
04:45I mean, just incredible.
04:47So I'm very lucky to have done stuff with her
04:49in season three, and I really hope I get to continue
04:52to work with her,
04:53because she's super talented and lovely, too.
05:01Taylor Leone is insanely funny.
05:06Like, so professional and good at what she does,
05:10it's almost effortless.
05:12There's a moment right before I tell her to shut the,
05:16um, she's, like, giving me the one true, honest compliment
05:21that I've, like, waited for my entire life,
05:23but I'm too, like, stupid to sort of take it in,
05:27and she does it in the most surprising, amazing way,
05:30and, you know, and she constantly delivered things
05:34in ways that I never would have even thought of,
05:36and it's so funny.
05:37Like, her manipulation of Jenna's character,
05:40her kind of performative activism,
05:42she's extraordinary, and, like,
05:45I haven't had many experiences as great
05:49as my experience of working with Zaya.
05:52What exactly are we saying this is, though?
05:54I think we know exactly what it is.
05:56A horse-like mammalia.
05:59With some sort of protrusion or growth.
06:06Daisy Edgar-Jones is really funny.
06:10She really makes me laugh,
06:13and she's wonderful in On Swift Horses,
06:17and so believable and real in every turn,
06:22and I loved working with her on that,
06:25but the surprise was to find out how funny she is,
06:27like, offset when the camera's on rolling,
06:29like, she's so sweet and really, really funny.
06:37When I think about the warfare group,
06:39I think about us all doing, like, silly things,
06:42like group quartet singing while smoking cigarettes
06:47and drinking energy drinks in between takes,
06:51or, you know, all, like, having meals together
06:54at the end of every single day.
06:56We spent virtually every waking moment with each other
06:59and lived together through that boot camp
07:00and through the shooting,
07:04and, you know, as serious as the subject matter is,
07:07and I will say is, like, incredibly intense
07:10and committed, you know,
07:13the whole kind of cast were in the process of shooting it.
07:17Like, we had such a laugh, too, and had so much fun,
07:21but it was still intense,
07:23and it still pushed us all kind of further
07:24than we'd ever been,
07:25so having those moments of levity was key
07:28and very much a byproduct of the amazing camaraderie
07:32that developed through boot camp,
07:34and I sincerely love those guys.