The Story Behind How Alan Ritchson Won A 'Creative Argument' With Guy Ritchie Over A Violent Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare Scene
Alan Ritchson had a vision for one Ungentlemanly Warfare scene, but Guy Ritchie wasn't convinced.
Guy Ritchie’s new movie is one of the biggest action films on the 2024 movie schedule so far. Henry Cavil, Alan Ritchson, Henry Golding, and the rest of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare cast murder a whole lot of Nazis throughout the movie, which is based on the true story of a special forces team during World War II. However, it seems that not all of the violence was originally planned, as Alan Ritchson had to convince Ritchie to let one scene become even more violent.
In an interview with EW, Ritchson told the story about the scene, which takes place late in the film and sees his character, Anders Lassen, tear through a ship full of Nazis. The initial concept for the scene simply had Ritchson dispatch a couple of soldiers with the character's trademark knives. However, the actor saw the scene very differently, namely as something far more physical and bloody. He felt it made sense for his character to not just want to kill Nazis, but to want to kill them violently. He explained…
Alan Ritchson says that a lot of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, especially the action, was improv, and that the director had an attitude ‘of “the real movie is going to be the one we find on set.” However, he also said that Ritchie wasn’t immediately receptive to the idea of going with the more physical sequence. The actor continued…
Ritchson said that one of Ritchie's producing partners was sympathetic to the actor's idea and helped convince the director to at least let them take the shot. Ritchson and his frequent stunt double Ryan Tarran then spent the night designing the sequence. The next day, they presented it to the boss, who was apparently a tough audience…
But the work paid off. Alan Ritchson said that Guy Ritchie ultimately loved what they’d come up with, which included Tarran himself appearing as a Nazi to fight Ritchson, as he was the only person on set big enough to look like a real threat to the actor. Ritchson concluded the story by saying…
As our Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare review, states, the movie is fascist-fighting fun, to be sure. It’s certainly hard to imagine The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare without Alan Ritchson tearing through Nazis with an ax.; it’s one of the highlights of the film. Clearly Ritchie made the right choice here listening to his actor.
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CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.