Kirsten Dunst thinks assassinated president in Civil War is any ‘fascist’ leader
Kirsten Dunst thinks the president gunned down at the end of ‘Civil War’ is any “fascist” leader.
The actress, 41, stars as photojournalist Lee in ‘Ex Machina’ creator Alex Garland’s dystopian film that takes place in a war-torn US, and she has now clarified whether the president assassinated in its finale – played by Nick Offerman – is a representation of a Donald Trump-style president.
She told Variety: “It’s just a fascist president. But I didn’t think about Nick’s character being any certain political figure.
“I just thought this is this president, in this world, who will not abide by the Constitution and democracy.”
Writer and director Alex, 53, has said about his creation: “I had a very clear goal in my head, which is to not instruct the audience what to think but actually to prompt an exchange (of dialogue.)”
The movie traces Lee and a team of photojournalists as they travel across a conflict-ravaged US to try and get an iconic shot of the White House being stormed by resistance fighters.
Its violent finale was shot at the replica White House at 54-year-old filmmaker Tyler Perry’s Atlanta studio – the same place his character Madea once used to announce she was Trump’s fictitious communications director.
In ‘Civil War’, the president’s press secretary is shot and killed as she tries to negotiate his surrender.
After the president’s death, the film ends on a shot of a black-and-white photo of a group of Western Forces soldiers smiling as they stand next to the dead president.
Kirsten added to Variety: “This movie, after you see it, you want to talk about it for a while with people. And I think any movie that does that is incredible.
“The whole movie is open to interpretation. For me, there were things I just accepted that were unexplained.
“It allows the audience to fill in their own feelings about what they’re watching.”