Da 5 Bloods shares a story of brotherhood and camaraderie among the Black American soldiers of the Vietnam War, which marked the first time the army wasn’t segregated. Director Spike Lee brought some of his longtime collaborators like Isiah Whitlock Jr. together with talent such as Clarke Peters and Norm Lewis to form the band of brothers.

The three actors discussed the film’s June 12 release in a recent interview with Screen Rant, where they shared some details about their characters and revealed what important historical context they gained from the script.

This movie's amazing, from beginning to end. Amazing job, I can't tell you guys enough. This was a fantastic film. But first of all, introduce me to your characters. Let the people know who each one of you guys are playing and a little hook into your characters.

Clarke Peters: I play Otis, and I'm a medic that looks after these guys.

Norm Lewis: I'm Eddie, and I play a photographer and kind of a showboat. And I look after these guys.

Isiah Whitlock Jr.: And I play Melvin. I'm a bit of a free spirit; I signed onto the army when I was way too young. But these are my brothers; these are my bloods. I look after these guys.

This movie requires a lot of different skills. There's elements of comedy, it's firmly a drama, and it has a lot of action and thriller elements in it. How do you prepare for such a role like that, with so much variety?

Clarke Peters: Well, at the beginning we went to a boot camp for the physical and action side. We drew on our life experiences for the philosophical side. And we just hung out with each other for the love side.

Isiah Whitlock Jr.: I also just feel that when you approach it, you're not thinking, "drama, comedy." You're just gonna play it, and you hope that people enjoy it. All of that is going to come out, especially if you're just being honest and you're just living in that moment. It'll all start to happen, and that's where you're going to get that variety.

While doing research for the era and your characters, were there any surprises or discoveries that you found along the way to help inform the character that you were going to play?

Norm Lewis: Yeah, I think all of us learned in the moment that it was about the black culture. At least from my perspective, we didn't know about the black culture in Vietnam. And this is, from my understanding, the very first war that there was only one army instead of having a black army and white army, like in Korea or World War II and World War I. This was the first time it was one army, but yet they were segregating themselves, and the different cultures within that. And finding out that there was a brotherhood there.

In fact, we learned that a lot of people didn't want to even come back from there. Because when they got back to the United States, they missed the brotherhood that they had over there.

The main characters from Da 5 Bloods looking down at something on the ground.

Oh, is that right? I had no idea about that. That's crazy. Can you talk to me about Spike Lee's approach and how he set the tone for the film?

Clarke Peters: It's on you, Isiah. You're the veteran here.

Isiah Whitlock Jr.: No, Spike knows what he wants. He has a vision. And as an actor, you're there and you're trying to help him capture that vision. You're working within that shot or within that scene. So, you start putting all of this together. You feel like you're in great hands, and you are, but you've got to work within that zone. But within that zone, you can be very flexible.

Last question for you guys. Clearly, there's a symmetry between the struggle of the late 60s and 70s and today. What do you want people to experience in contemporary times to help illuminate what was going on in the film?

Clarke Peters: Do you mean it the other way around, what was happening then to illuminate what's happening now? That is what you meant.

Well, just to take a look at the racial dynamic and the politics of then; look at it now. And I would dare say, take a look back at the Harlem Renaissance and take a look at history then, and see where we're at. And then chart your trajectory. We've been saying all along, for all of us at some point in time, take a look at history. Take a look at history. It's easy now; what they did not want to tell you in school or in university, you have access to now online. From many, many, many perspectives. Get online, find that library, read those books, and educate yourself. Educate yourself. Do not allow yourself to be indoctrinated. It's different; educate yourself.

Isiah Whitlock Jr.: And getting to know the history will help you in the dialogue today. It's when you don't know the history, that's when you start hearing comments like, "I don't know what's wrong," or "I always thought everything was okay." And you want to say no, because of all of these other things that have happened up until this moment.

More: Delroy Lindo & Jonathan Majors Interview for Da 5 Bloods