Podtalk: Ed Skrein & Luke Kleintank Relive WW2 in ‘Midway’

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CHICAGO – “Midway” is an epic film that combines the best of what you love about a World War II film … the relationships of human beings during a global crisis with sensational and acrobatic battle sequences. It also looks at WW2 in modern hindsight, respecting both opponents in the Pacific theater. Actors Ed Skrein & Luke Kleintank are featured, as real-life participants.

Dick Best (Ed Skrein) & Clarence Dickinson (Luke Kleintank) of ‘Midway’
Photo credit: Lionsgate

The United States has declared war against Japan, through the smoldering rubble of the Pearl Harbor attack. What is necessary for territorial imperative in the Pacific region is the protection of an American airstrip on the island of Midway. It is a two pronged approach which began by attacking Toyko – accomplished by Jimmy Doolittle’s (Aaron Eckhart) pilot raiders – and then holding the strategic island of Midway (along with the ocean land around it). Naval Academy pilots Dick Best (Ed Skrein) and Clarence Dickinson (Luke Kleintank) are on the Midway team, and interact with their fellow warriors of that battle, portrayed by Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Dennis Quaid, Darren Criss and Nick Jonas. Mandy Moore portrays Anne, Dick Best’s wife.

British-born Ed Skrein is a true actor artist, and besides performing roles in “Game of Thrones” and “Deadpool,” he is a hip-hop rapper and painter. Luke Kleintank is veteran TV character actor, doing recurring roles on “Gossip Girl,” “Bones” and “Pretty Little Liars.” He has garnered critical acclaim as agent Joe Blake on Amazon Prime’s “The Man in the High Castle.”

Ed Skrein & Luke Kleintank in Chicago for ‘Midway’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

In PART ONE of a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, the featured actors of ‘Midway,” Ed Skrein and Luke Kleintank, reflect on their experiences portraying real people in a different era.

In PART TWO, Kleintank talks ‘The Man in the High Castle’ and the connection that both actors have to World War II.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com