[Video Interview] Wagner Moura pulls from his past to inform his present in ‘CIVIL WAR’

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

In Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR, Wagner Moura’s character Joel is an impulsive journalist on a mission to land a coveted interview during tenuous country-wide circumstances with the President of the United States (Nick Offerman). Part war drama, part alt-future thriller, the picture is a timely, trenchant statement on war journalism and reporters’ roles in chronicling the facts. And it captures what political divisiveness could look like if we’re not careful.

Moura, who’s previously commanded the screen in NARCOS and harnessed his vocal skills in PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, handles the material with assured force, bringing a sense of authenticity no one else could – especially given he studied journalism before getting into acting. At the film’s recent Los Angeles press day, we spoke with the affable, acclaimed actor about everything from the picture’s prescience to what it’s like being in “an Alex Garland Movie.”

CIVIL WAR will be released in theaters on April 12.