Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Wildcat’s Luke Benward

Luke Benward is one of Hollywood’s most exciting leading men. Whether he’s bringing characters to life on the screen or flexing his creative muscle behind the scenes, Luke’s mission as an artist is always to drive the story forward.

His latest project, Wildcat, finds him stepping into the shoes of a soldier who’s captured after his convoy is ambushed. It’s a tale of resilience, self-discovery, and courage.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Luke about Wildcat, why this is a once-in-a-lifetime story, and how the film is rooted in the gray area where art thrives.

PC: Tell us about Wildcat, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Luke: Wildcat is a dramatic thriller. It has a heartbeat that keeps the film moving throughout. It follows a soldier named Luke, just kismet that it’s also my name, and a diplomat named Cat. The movie starts and they’ve been captured by an extremist group in the Middle East. They were on a convoy and were headed somewhere when they’re attacked and captured. That’s where it starts. You meet them once they’ve been brought into their cell. The story follows them as they’re figuring out where they are, who took them, and how they’re going to get out—that’s what drives the story forward.

What I thought was really special about this project was Jonathan Stokes, the writer-director, and the way he went about telling the story. It’s so grounded in humanity. I find myself saying this a lot, but it’s so rooted in the gray area that it’s able to do what true art is supposed to do, which is to allow the audience to be subjective, to take liberties, and to apply it to themselves. That’s what drew me to this project. I got to the end of the script and it really impacted me; I got to the end and I needed an exhale. It was intense. It’s an actor’s dream, honestly. I was like, “Wow. This is a once-in-a-lifetime story.”

PC: You’ve worked on projects of all sizes. What is it about independent filmmaking that excites you as an actor?
Luke: Well, nothing against the big machines, they have their place—they’re the backbone of the film industry; that’s where the money is made. But independent [filmmaking] allows for true, unadulterated expression. It’s not as much about what’s going to sell or what’s going to go over well, it’s much more about what impacts the filmmaker in a powerful way. That’s really important, and it has to have its place because movies are commercialized, and that’s great, but we also need movies that are art and take liberties. It isn’t always out there to please everyone and is more about challenging people and forcing them out of their box. It makes them think and feel.

That’s what Wildcat does really well. Jonathan was so good about collaborating and hearing people’s opinions while still maintaining his visions. It was a beautiful process. I love indies. I’ve done a handful. I’m actually trying to produce some indies right now. I definitely love that side of filmmaking so much, because that’s what drives me: the art of it and the impact that it can make.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, the film is an intense ride from start to finish. As an actor, how did you mentally prepare to play a character who’s in these dire situations?
Luke: Well, I have a very minimal grasp on what a soldier goes through. [laughs] I’ve done a couple of boot camps getting ready for other military roles I’ve played where it’s been more the combat, but even that, it’s a small feeling of what the actual experience is. So, I wanted to find the humanity in the character. One thing that I found was this line he has that became my mantra—I wrote across the front of the script and would repeat it to myself: “I don’t want to die for nothing.” That, to me, was him bearing his soul in that moment and why he’s doing this.

When we were getting ready for filming, I was confused by the distinction between people who can sustain and endure torture, and those who can’t. They’ve been through the same training, so why is that? I came to the conclusion that it has to be something outside of them. If you rely solely upon yourself and your own strength, that’s not enough; if you have something outside that’s motivating you, it’s always enough. There’s something that’s larger than you, and I felt that for him. That motivation was the loyalty to his comrades, friends, and family back at home. Those are the people he’s fighting for. That’s what tied us together.

As far as the physical abuse, I encouraged the other actors to be rough. I was going to be all right—I wasn’t getting stabbed or shot. I was like, “Drag me around. That’s cool.” I also cut back on my diet a bunch. I wanted to feel weak, tired, and hungry. I felt like that lent itself nicely to the piece as well. I tried to keep myself in a very tunnel vision and focused place.

PC: You and Georgina [Campbell] give incredible performances throughout the film. What was that collaboration like? How did you each elevate each other to give the performances we see on screen?
Luke: It was awesome. This was such a collaborative experience. We had our rehearsals ahead of time where she and I and the director would talk about the scenes and read through them. Obviously, they’re very intense, so we wouldn’t go all the way. We knew on the day that the emotion would come, but we needed to be connected sitting on the floor, just talking about the scenes. That allowed for us to all get on the same page ahead of time and talk about any issues in a very safe environment and one that wasn’t under any time constraints. That helped with the preparation. Then, we were able to get on set and let loose and experiment with the intricacies.

The skeleton was there, so we were able to fill the in-between. It can be a slippery slope for some actors who get too worried about their performance. The performance comes from the giving, and we both came in with the same mindset of giving it 110% whether we were on screen or off. We knew if we both did the same, it was going to be great. That’s what we did.

PC: There are so many important themes within the film about resilience and self-discovery. Was there one in particular that hit home for you?
Luke: For sure. The character of Abu Khalid is one that’s so complex to me. It’s cool because it does live in such a state of balance; it’s supposedly opposites of Luke and Abu, but it’s not depicted that way. That was a courageous thing to do as a filmmaker. That character is one that’s rooted in complexity. It’s a really incredible character that he created that’s not all bad. It starts as a character who wants a family, love, and life, and ultimately grows to what we see on the screen, which is a product of hate. Sorry, that was a little off topic.

But yes, the theme of courage is very prominent. I’m not sure…I’ve seen the final cut, and I can’t remember if it made it into the film, but Cat’s character was sexually assaulted at some point throughout her adolescence. That assaulter resembles Luke. That arc takes her from being very resistant and fearful of anything involving this relationship to growing the courage and stepping out and trusting while staying guarded. It’s stepping out for growth and, ultimately, reaping the reward in the connection that they form. That was a really cool theme to me as well.

PC: In addition to Wildcat, you have a couple of other projects that you’re working on at the moment. Are there any that you can chat about? Anything on the producing side?
Luke: I have one that myself and my girlfriend actually produced together and are also in. We made it over the pandemic with no money—we just did it for fun. It’s a thriller that’s over Zoom, and it’s a fun one. It’s experimental. We’re in the editing process of that one right now. We’ve got a couple of others that are being funded right now and one that we’re out to lead, so we’ll see how that goes.

We also have a short that I directed this year that’s going out to festivals. She was a producer on it with me. Hopefully, that gets in because that would be awesome. I’ve also been writing a ton, shopping that around, and auditioning now that productions are picking up again.

To keep up with Luke, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Wildcat is in select theaters April 23rd and on Digital and On Demand April 27th.

Photo Credit: Heidi Hartwig