Perhaps more so than any other Christoper Nolan-directed movie before it, Dunkirk touts a remarkably diverse ensemble cast. On the one hand, we have the Nolan regulars – namely Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy – Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, a former One Direction star in Harry Styles and Fionn Whitehead, the relative newcomer on board as a wet-behind-the-ears British private known as Tommy. You’ll be able to see him reporting for duty in the new image above, which also serves as a timely reminder of Dunkirk‘s scale and scope.
While chatting to USA Today, Christopher Nolan reflected on his decision to cast the up-and-coming actor for Dunkirk, and it’s all about immersing the audience in Operation Dynamo.
“He’s just a kid, really, and that’s sort of the point. You see events very much through his eyes,” said Nolan. “We want to put the audience on that beach, put them on a boat heading over to Dunkirk, put them in the cockpit of a Spitfire. That’s the ambition and I’m bringing all my experience in filmmaking to bear trying to achieve it.”
For a director that has wowed us through The Prestige, Inception, and Interstellar – not to mention his beloved take on the Caped Crusader – that Nolan is calling upon all of his experience for Dunkirk is exciting in and of itself. It represents a fairly massive creative change for the filmmaker, too, as he’s tackling one of the most historic rescue missions in modern history. Intense, visceral, jaw-dropping – all adjectives one would use to describe the first reel of footage released for Dunkirk, and it’s little wonder why Nolan’s WWII epic has emerged as one of the biggest summer blockbusters as 2017 begins to unfold.
It was the event that shaped our world and come July 21, Christopher Nolan will introduce the death-defying tale of Dunkirk to the moviegoing masses.
