Originally meant to premiere through traditional cinemas at the end of 2020, The Tomorrow War is now hitting Amazon Prime Video on July 2. The apocalyptic action film revolves around a global draft that sends soldiers into a designated point in the future to fight what appears to be a losing battle against a vicious alien race.
Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), who also served as an executive producer, stars as family man Dan. Though his professional life may be in something of a rut when the war is announced, he throws his all into it because he is protecting the future for his daughter Muri. Edwin Hodge (Mayans M.C.), on the other hand, plays a soldier named Dorian who feels he has nothing to live for when the enters the fight for tomorrow.
Pratt and Hodge spoke to Screen Rant about how their characters are affected by the apparently insurmountable obstacles, and Pratt shared how becoming a producer changed his perspective on acting.
I love how The Tomorrow War in not just an action-packed war film, but it really is at its heart a family story, especially for Dan and his family. Chris, can you talk about how Dan's daughter affects his every decision?
Chris Pratt: Yeah, that's right. I think that is really something that any parent can relate to. This is a guy who's making big decisions in his life for the sake of his family, and I think that's what parents do. That's really our job.
Incidentally, my daughter Lyla was conceived during the making of this. So, I was playing a girl dad, and now I am a girl dad.
Wonderful. Life imitated art.
Chris Pratt: We were gonna name her Muri, but then my wife said no.
Dorian is almost on the opposite track, in that he feels like he has nothing to live for and yet he must fight in this war for all of humanity. Edwin, can you talk a little bit about how he starts off and how meeting Dan changes him?
Edwin Hodge: Yeah, you are exactly right. He does feel like he has nothing to live for. He's at his wit's end, and it's only when he does meet Dan that he realizes that the fight really isn't going to be for himself. He's actually fighting for a purpose.
Meeting Dan and understanding his purpose gives him a new lease on life, in a sense, and gives him that extra juice to want to get back into the fight. Because he does understand that, outside of him, there are other people. There are bigger reasons to keep pushing, so if he was able to help, then that was his cause.
Chris, this was the first feature film where you served as an EP. What was that experience like, and how does it change your perspective as an actor?
Chris Pratt: In so many ways, it really changed my perspective on everything. In terms of acting, it changed my perspective on the audition process.
I was just talking about this earlier: for a long time, when I was auditioning for movies, if I didn't get the part, I thought, "Oh, I'm not a good actor." But then I realized we would turn down amazing actors left and right, just because it's not about whether or not you're good actor; it's whether or not you happen to be a good fit, or if you're the one in 20 amazing actors that could work for this role. Being on the other side of it hugely changed my perspective of auditioning. Knowing what I know now would have taken some of the pressure off earlier from auditioning.
And just the amount of everything; the amount of decisions that have to be made for a movie. Every single thing - anything you see on screen is the result of a committee of people making a decision, from the color of the paint on the walls to the type of Tupperware that the character uses. It's like planning a wedding every single day.
