Civil War star Nick Offerman says former President Donald Trump didn’t even cross his mind while playing the divisive president in filmmaker Alex Garland’s dystopian thriller.
In Civil War, which is new in theaters Friday, Offerman plays an unnamed, future dictatorial third-term president holed up in the White House during a brutal conflict between warring factions of a geographically divided America.
One region dubbed the “Western Forces” — which consists of secessionist states California and Texas — is moving toward Washington, D.C., to overthrow the president. With time running out, a small group of journalists led by veteran war photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) head to the nation’s capital with the hopes of taking photos and interviewing the president before the WF can get to him.
During the film’s premiere in early April, Deadline asked Offerman if he thought of Trump at all while playing the small but pivotal role of the commander-in-chief.
“Honestly, no,” Offerman told Deadline during a red-carpet interview. “When you see the movie, it’s so unattached to anything in modern politics, not only in our country but any country. It’s like doing a play where I’m playing a baseball player, and people say, ‘Did you ever think of your favorite team, the Cubs?’ And I say, ‘No, it’s a brilliant piece of fiction.’”
‘Civil War’ Doesn’t Mention Democrats Or Republicans
Written and directed by Alex Garland, Civil War doesn’t take sides politically and avoids any discussion of any political ideologies or cultural arguments, and instead focuses on the horrific consequences of the bloody battles between Americans. Garland even goes so far as to avoid mentioning either the Democratic or Republican parties by name.
“At the heart of all of this, it’s really about humanity and what happens when people stop treating each other like human beings,” Kirsten Dunst told CBS Sunday Morning.
Nick Offerman told Deadline at the film’s premiere that he came into the project to honor Garland’s direction, which is why he didn’t ground his portrayal in POTUS No. 45. Instead, he let what Garland had written in the script inform his portrayal of the country’s leader who abolished the FBI in his tenure.
“From the get-go, it clearly wasn’t based on anything in reality, and so, that’s a distraction, and my job is to immediately say, ‘Who is this guy? And how can I best serve Alex’s vision?’” Offerman told Deadline.
Even though his portrayal isn’t based on former President Donald Trump, Offerman warned CBS Sunday Morning that the messages of Civil War simply can’t be ignored given the fractured state of the country.
“I hope as many people see it as possible, and I hope that it helps us slowly trudge ourselves towards trying to find decency in our society, and supporting that, and turning our backs on the forces that make us look in the other direction and can lead us to things like what happens in this movie,” Offerman told CBS Sunday Morning.
Civil War is playing in theaters.
