Making Of WAR MACHINE 2026 Best Of Behind The Scenes Stunts Set Visit With Alan Ritchson

I'm going to level with you real quick. I am the most tired I've ever been. This is a tough one. We're replicating Ranger Assessment Selection Program where they take 180 applicants. Instead of having a name, they're just purely given a number. There's no individualism. That's very important. It's part of the process. There's something about the spirit of 81 that has captured me so much. A character who just inspires us to be the best version of ourselves. This whole film is practical. To do it right, you want to be in the environment. The majestic beauty that it brings elevates the whole cinematic experience for viewers. And it's really, really dangerous. For real, that's grade five rapid. I'm ready to take a dip. I love this job, man. Rangers lead the way! Always! We do not trust you. Now slowly apply acceleration. Oh man, this thing's got some go. A really big scene, we have this epic montage where I just put Alan through the absolute paces in the film, right? That's right. I put you through the absolute paces and it builds towards a climactic moment which is this scene here in the pool. And this is 81 as he walks along the bottom of the pool holding weights. Now I found this exercise in research and I thought, oh, that's really interesting. Beautiful storytelling device. Because the fun fact about this exercise is that no one is the winner, right? It's essentially to see how far you can go. What is your breaking point? And then that's the ultimate test that these candidates are faced with. So it's to push yourself as far as you can go before you come up for air. The only problem is is that this scene became a visual representation of 81's inner turmoil because he's driven by shame. So while these other candidates are coming up 81 keeps going. About that setup is that when we set this shot up I had Alan in the pool and I told him, I said, listen, I'm going to shoot. I've set up a camera operator, we're underwater and he's at the halfway mark. I don't expect you'll get there, right? I'll show you the exact shot here because you can see it on his face. This shot here. Yeah. That one right there. That's the moment there. So Alan, I told you, right? I said, Alan, jump in. See how far you can walk. He goes, I'll cut it up for you. Don't worry, if you have to give up and we do this in a couple of takes, feel free to give up. Yeah. And I was just looking for the shot, right? And then Alan jumped in and then he walked so far in that pool literally like it was almost a two-minute take that he ended up walking in and walked straight into my camera operator here. This shot here. So if we pull up the rushes on that he's walked so far up the pool my camera operator was backing out of housing and I can't see because he's not wearing goggles and he ended up walking straight into that camera operator who backed up all the way back into a far wall and we... Channeling 81 that day for sure. I know. I was like, cannot repeat that. Okay. On go. And three, two, one, go. You good? On three, two, one, go. Go. Everyone okay? And three, two, one. Three, two, one, go.