EXCLUSIVE: Ed Skrein says he 'loves' Cape Town as he tells us about his new film 'Midway'

CHANNEL24 SPECIAL FEATURE

On 16 October, Channel24 flew to Hawaii to speak to the director and cast of the much-anticipated war film, Midway. Here Bashiera Parker sits down with Ed Skrein and Luke Kleintank to talk about the intense responsibility they felt taking on the roles of the fighter pilots who went on to become historical figures, and visiting the South African Winelands.

Cape Town – After braving the sweltering heat visiting Pearl Harbour wearing my all-black blazer and high-waisted pants, I sat down in front Ed Skrein and Luke Kleintank at the Four Seasons Resort in O’ahu. "Hot enough?" Ed laughed. I melted.

We started talking about South Africa and the actor, who’s famous for his roles in The Transporter Refueled, Deadpool and Maleficient: Mistress of Evil, said he loves coming to SA.

"I’ve been there twice, and I LOVE it," Ed said. "I love Cape Town. I shot one movie in Cape Town, and and another movie around Stellenbosch. We went up to Franschhoek. That was beautiful for me to go to the wine country. I was a big fan of South African wines after that – Rubicon was one of my favourites.

"It's a beautiful place, you know. They pride themselves on being the rainbow generation – that's beautiful to me. I come from multi-cultural London and, you know, I'm kind of optimistic about the future. That made me very optimistic about the future of South Africa too."

In the film Ed Skrein plays Dick Best and Luke Kleintak takes on the role of Lieutenant Clarence Dickinson, both of whom are still alive today. The two, who were close friends, were integral in the battle of Midway.

For Luke Kleintank the role had a sort of personal resonance because his grandfather fought in the battle of Midway and served on the submarine the Archer Fish. "For me it was an honour to play that generation," he told me.

Ed spoke about how this was "the heaviest sense of responsibility and duty" he’s ever felt, playing Dick Best. "It’s indescribable," he said.

Speaking about the film he said, "Some art is supposed to be just frivolous and fun, and we want to keep some art that way, but, this is more than that."

Scroll up to see the full interview above.

Midway will be in SA cinemas on 27 December.