Steven Spielberg's War Horse certainly isn't one of his most popular films. Released on Christmas Day, 2011, it opened to relatively middling reviews (for a Spielberg film at least) and ended up grossing just $177 million at the worldwide box office. It wasn't a hit by any stretch of the imagination but it does contain a killer cast.
The cast of this film is a certifiable who's who of A-list stars, even though it was released nearly a full decade ago, and many of said stars have some surprising histories that you may not know about. These are ten things you never knew about the cast of War Horse.
Toby Kebbell Is A Big Motion Capture Artist
Toby Kebbell plays Geordie Soldier in War Horse, although you may know him from other works like Kong: Skull Island and 'The Entire History Of You' episode of Black Mirror. But what you may not have known is that he is also a big-time motion capture artist.
Not only did he act in Kong: Skull Island, he also provided the motion capture for Kong himself. He has also done work in Fantastic Four, Warcraft, and the new Planet of the Apes trilogy, where he played Koba.
Benedict Cumberbatch's Grandfather Was An Esteemed Submarine Commander
Like his character, Benedict Cumberbatch has some experience in war. Well, the Cumberbatch family does, anyway. Benedict's grandfather is Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, who served as a submarine commander in the British Royal Navy.
He served in both World Wars and later retired in December 1945 as a commander. He married Pauline Congdon in April 1934, and the couple had two children - Amber and Timothy. Timothy is Benedict Cumberbatch's father.
Tom Hiddleston Is The Great-Great-Grandson Of An Important Food Producer
Continuing with the family lineage theme, let's talk about Tom Hiddleston's great-great grandfather! His name was Sir Edmund Vestey. He joined his brother William to form The Union Cold Storage Company, which quickly became an important cold storage operation.
They imported refrigerated meat from countries like Argentina and China, a novelty idea at the time. After amassing a fortune and seven children, Vestey passed away in 1953, nearly thirty years before Hiddleston was born.
David Thewlis Was In A Punk Band
David Thewlis plays Lyons in War Horse, although you undoubtedly know him better as Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter franchise.
It doesn't seem like acting was Thewlis's first love - but music. Thewlis played in various rock and punk bands as a teenager, including a band called Door 66. His love for music may have eventually pushed him into studying it as an academic discourse, as he enrolled in London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the early '80s.
Emily Watson Is A Shakespearean Actress
Playing Rose Narracott was Emily Watson, who is perhaps better known for her roles in Kingsman: The Golden Circle and HBO's Chernobyl. Watson is an acclaimed Shakespearean actress and once worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in plays like The Taming of the Shrew and All's Well That Ends Well.
In 2003, she was nominated for the esteemed Olivier Award for her work in Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.
Jeremy Irvine Lost "Two Stone" For A Role
War Horse was Jeremy Irvine's first movie role, but while it may have proved challenging working with Spielberg, it was nothing compared to what he had to do for The Railway Man.
In that film, Irvine plays a prisoner of war, and to get the necessary body, he lost two stone in a span of just two months. Two stone equates to roughly thirteen kilograms, which equates to almost thirty pounds. That's fifteen pounds lost per month! That's how you know an actor is taking a role seriously...
Peter Mullan Is The Only Person To Win Prizes For Acting And Filmmaking At Major European Festivals
The European festival circuit is widely esteemed, and it typically hosts the greatest films of a given year. And Peter Mullan is the only person in the world to win top prizes at said festivals in the arts of acting and filmmaking. In 1998 he won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his role in My Name Is Joe.
Just four years later, in 2002, his film The Magdalene Sisters (which he wrote and directed) won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Niels Arestrup Has Won Three César Awards
Niels Arestrup is a French actor who plays Grandfather in War Horse. He is also the most awarded supporting actor in César Award history. The César Award is the French equivalent of the Academy Award, the highest film honor bestowed in the French film industry.
Arestrup has won the Best Supporting Actor award on three separate occasions - for 2005's The Beat That My Heart Skipped, 2009's A Prophet, and 2013's The French Minister. He continues to act in various French productions - he was nominated for even more César Awards in 2014 (for Diplomacy) and again in 2017 (for See You Up There). It's clear that this man is a national treasure.
Céline Buckens Won Her Role After Just Two Auditions
War Horse was Céline Buckens's first movie role, and she nailed it after just two formal auditions. She didn't even have a background in acting, as she studied history at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Regardless, it's done wonders for her career, as she now has main roles in both Cinemax's Warrior and the Netflix British drama Free Rein. What can we say, she's a natural.
Eddie Marsan Began Work As A Printer
Eddie Marsan played Sargent Fry in War Horse, although you probably know him better as Peter from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's The World's End. Marsan was raised in a working class family, as his father was a truck driver and his mother was both a TA and school lunch lady.
Marsan looked to continue his working class tradition after taking an apprenticeship as a printer, but he left to study at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, instigating his eventual (and successful) career in film.