Current:Home > News'Civil War': Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny break down 'heartbreaking' yet disturbing ending-LoTradeCoin
'Civil War': Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny break down 'heartbreaking' yet disturbing ending
View Date:2024-12-23 18:44:00
Spoiler alert! We're discussing major details about the ending of “Civil War” (in theaters now).
“Civil War” isn’t Kirsten Dunst's first time in the White House.
In 1999, the actress co-starred with Michelle Williams in the offbeat comedy “Dick,” playing ditzy teens who help expose Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. The film ends with a giddy roller disco scene set to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.”
“I just remember skating around the Oval Office,” Dunst says with a laugh. But there are no bell bottoms to be found in “Civil War,” which culminates in a nerve-shredding finale of rebel forces storming the White House and killing the tyrannical, third-term president (Nick Offerman). Dunst plays world-weary photojournalist Lee, who travels to Washington to capture the raid with rookie photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) and their teammate Joel (Wagner Moura).
The ear-splitting gunfire and explosions took a toll on the cast, who shot the sequence over the course of two weeks on a soundstage in Atlanta. “The loudness (you hear) in the theater was that intense when we were filming,” Dunst says. “It’s exhausting on your body to be in that noise.”
“It’s very rattling but also very effective for those scenes,” Spaeny adds. “There’s not much acting you have to do, it’s so jolting.”
'No dark dialogue!'Kirsten Dunst says 5-year-old son helped her run lines for 'Civil War'
How does 'Civil War' end?
After bombing the Lincoln Memorial, a militia breaks into the White House and searches for the president, who is holed up in the Oval Office as D.C. burns. Lee, Jessie and Joel tag along with the insurgents, snapping pics as they dodge gunfire from the president’s soldiers.
At one point, while Jessie is furiously shooting photos, Lee notices a gunman aiming at her young colleague. Lee jumps to push Jessie out of the way, taking the bullets and falling down dead. Jessie continues photographing, capturing Lee's lifeless body even as she tumbles onto her.
It’s a sobering callback to earlier in the film, when Lee and Jessie watch as two men get executed at a gas station. “Would you photograph that moment if I got shot?” Jessie tearfully asks. “What do you think?” Lee responds coolly. Lee begrudgingly becomes Jessie’s mentor as the movie goes on, and teaches her to compartmentalize her work and emotions.
“To me, it’s a bit heartbreaking, but it also feels inevitable,” Spaeny says of Jessie chronicling Lee’s death. “But it’s mixed. It could be a bit hopeful; someone else does have to take this on. This is an important job, but it’s also bittersweet, right? Mostly what I felt was slightly disturbed.”
Over the course of “Civil War,” we watch as Jessie becomes desensitized to violence. The film was shot in chronological order, meaning Spaeny was able to track Jessie’s arc in real time.
“As we were filming, I would just know, ‘OK, it’s time for her to step up,’ ” Spaeny recalls. With that last sequence, “I knew there was going to be some sort of passing of the baton. So much was informed by Kirsten’s performance and the decisions she made on how to play Lee. I was just trying to soak that in.”
What happens to Nick Offerman in 'Civil War?'
In the very last scene, Jessie leaves behind Lee’s dead body and follows Joel into the Oval Office, where the unnamed president is lying on the floor with rebels’ guns pointed at him. Since the start of the war, Joel has been doggedly trying to secure an interview with the president, who has shut himself off entirely from journalists for years.
“Wait! Wait! I need a quote!” Joel says, to which the president replies with a muffled, “Don’t let them kill me!”
“Yup, that’ll do,” Joel deadpans, before the agitators gun down the commander in chief and the credits roll.
“Civil War” is Spaney’s third project with Offerman, after FX series “Devs” and 2018 thriller “Bad Times at the El Royale.” Playing a dictator is a 180 from his best-known role as the gruff but lovable Ron Swanson in NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.”
“All the ‘Parks’ fans don’t know how to digest this!” Spaeny jokes. Offerman’s casting “is so fun. I love watching comedians take on dramatic roles because I think they bring something to those characters that is more true to life. I think he did it brilliantly, but it’s very bizarre to see him in this role.”
veryGood! (25)
Related
- Seattle man faces 5 assault charges in random sidewalk stabbings
- What we know about the raid that rescued 4 Israeli hostages from Gaza
- Federal appeals court weighs challenge to Iowa ban on books with sexual content from schools
- Crew wins $1.7 million after catching 504-pound blue marlin at Big Rock Tournament in NC
- Shel Talmy, produced hits by The Who, The Kinks and other 1960s British bands, dead at 87
- S&P 500, Nasdaq post record closing highs; Fed meeting, CPI ahead
- John Leguizamo calls on Television Academy to nominate more diverse talent ahead of Emmys
- Federal agreement paves way for closer scrutiny of burgeoning AI industry
- Younghoo Koo takes blame for Falcons loss to Saints: 'This game is fully on me'
- Billy Ray Cyrus Claims Fraud in Request For Annulment From Firerose Marriage
Ranking
- 'Climate change is real': New York parks employee killed as historic drought fuels blazes
- Takeaways from AP examination of flooding’s effect along Mississippi River
- Survey: Christians favor Israel over Palestinians in Israel-Hamas war, but Catholic-Jewish relations hazy
- Panthers now 2 wins from the Stanley Cup, top Oilers 4-1 for 2-0 lead in title series
- Firefighters make progress, but Southern California wildfire rages on
- Sen. John Fetterman and wife Giselle taken to hospital after car crash in Maryland
- 'American Idol' contestant Jack Blocker thought he didn't get off on 'right foot' with Katy Perry
- Radio host Dan Patrick: 'I don't think Caitlin Clark is one of the 12 best players right now'
Recommendation
-
Week 10 fantasy football rankings: PPR, half-PPR and standard leagues
-
Minneapolis police officer killed while responding to a shooting call is remembered as a hero
-
Mexico’s tactic to cut immigration to the US: grind migrants down
-
For shrinking Mississippi River towns, frequent floods worsen fortunes
-
Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
-
WNBA power rankings: Liberty, Sun pace league, while Mystics head toward ill-fated history
-
Slogging without injured MVP (again), Atlanta Braves facing an alternate October path
-
With 100M birds dead, poultry industry could serve as example as dairy farmers confront bird flu