Glass interviews actor Kyle Soller

In the wars – actor Kyle Soller talks working with Brad Pitt, and why you have to set yourself goals

Talking to American-born actor Kyle Soller, familiar train announcements echo down the phone line. “Sorry,” he says with an endearing lilt to his words, “I’m on a train right now, on my way to do a voiceover”. The Anna Karenina actor is back in London (where he lives with his wife, English actor Phoebe Fox) after filming BBC’s Poldark in Bristol, and he’s got war on his mind. But who could blame him?

He’s just completed two warfare films back to back: Monsters: Dark Continent, the sequel to 2010’s postmodern sci-fi film Monsters written and directed by Gareth Edwards, and writer-director David Ayer’s Fury, which has been described as an authentic portrayal of World War II. In fact, make that three if you count The Keeping Room, in which Kyle plays Henry, one of two plundering rogue soldiers in the dying days of the American Civil War. He tells Glass: “These projects gave me pause to think about how I’m so incredibly grateful for the people who fought for our collective freedom.”

Kyle Soller. Photograph: Justin van Vliet

Did you watch Monsters when it was first released in 2010?
I didn’t see it in the cinema, but I wish I had; I watched it when the audition for Monsters: Dark Continent came up. I loved it and was so impressed with Gareth Edwards’ ability as a writer and director, but also his incredible ability with special effects – making them seem incidental, like they were just a fabric of the landscape. It wasn’t a big blockbuster scifi film, but it was more creepy because you didn’t see monsters at first and when you did wind up seeing them, it was huge chaos.

What were your initial thoughts when you read the script for Monsters: Dark Continent?
I was really excited about it because the whole ethos of the first film was preserved in the script for Dark Continent. Yes, there are the monsters – there are more of them and there are different species of them – but ultimately, as with what happened in the first film, it just becomes the story of two people, people against people, trying to understand your place in the world and fighting against the monsters that are inside us.

Kyle Soller. Photograph: Justin van Vliet

You play Inkelaar in Monsters: Dark Continent. What’s his story?
He grows up with three other guys in Detroit and there’s pretty much nothing there for them. They all decide to enlist to go fight the monsters in the Middle East, where the main infection is. He’s a joker, he’s got a really dark sense of humour, he doesn’t take things too seriously and he’s always pushing people over the edge. He only has two passions in life: guns and, um, porn (so, my mom’s going to be really happy). He’s part of this band of brothers and they’re completely devoted to each others safety because they grew up together.

Do you battle your own monsters outside of acting?
Maybe the monsters in my head; they’re just like everybody else’s.

Kyle Soller. Photograph: Justin van Vliet

Are you ever embarrassed to have your parents or loved ones watch the films you’re in. Like when you play someone whose passion is porn?
No, never. I always want to get to a place where I’m proud to show my family.

Tell us about your role in Fury.
My character in Fury, like in Dark Continent, is also a medic of the company. It’s set in the waning days of World War II and follows a tank battalion unit. It’s very raw and truthful, and it was fun to do. My scenes were with a core group of guys: Shia LaBeouf, Brad Pitt, Jon Bernthal and Michael Peña. Yeah, that was pretty intense…

Do you find you learn a lot when you’re working with actors of that calibre?
Yeah, absolutely.

In the depths of war, each man is only as strong as the man beside him”, is a message delivered in Fury. Do you reckon the same can be said with acting?
Yeah, that’s a really good military quote and I think it can relate to acting. You are dependent on each other to tell a story, and whether you’re telling it in theatre or on set, you can’t be selfish and tell your own story. There has to be camaraderie among the actors; you hold each other up. You’ve got to hold the ball up when it’s passed to you. It’s a give and take, and it has to happen really quickly and near perfectly.

Kyle Soller. Photograph: Justin van Vliet

Has working on two war movies back to back changed your perspective on war in the world today?
It was really interesting doing Dark Continent first and then Fury afterwards, because Dark Continent is basically set in the very near future, and that really shook up my perspective and made me ask, “ ”What the hell are we doing right now?” And then to go back to World War II in Fury to see the seeds of what we’re still fighting for today (you can go further back and find the seeds hundreds and hundreds of years ago).

There is a very disturbing propensity for violence – to try to win arguments through violence – and fighting wars just for the sake of fighting wars. We’re fighting now for reasons that the general public doesn’t know about and isn’t allowed to know about. These two projects gave me pause to think about how I’m so incredibly grateful for the people who fought for our collective freedom. I can’t even begin to repay that debt. And then again I think, ‘Surely, do we really still have to keep doing this?’

Are you now able to relate more to people who have chosen to fight for their country?
Yeah, you have to go to that place; you have to justify why your character is making whatever decision it is they’re making and sympathise with them. I have huge sympathy and respect for people who have fought in wars, whether of their own volition or whether they were forced into it because they had no way out.

Did you ever think of enlisting?
It may have crossed my mind fleetingly when I was a teenager. I think because of the duty and sacrifice that’s involved, there’s something noble and honourable in that. But I was doing so many other things that it was only ever a momentary thought.

Kyle Soller. Photograph: Justin van Vliet

You’ve won awards for stage acting and are in productions that for all intents and purposes could be in the running for their own industry awards. Do you set goals?
Yeah, big time. That’s how I challenge myself, by never getting complacent or lazy. It’s something I learnt from my parents, in particular my dad who was a very hard worker. He raised us with my mom to be hard workers, to achieve at a high level and to make sure we’re working with the best people. You have to set yourself goals.

What are your current goals?
To work again … [laughs]. I’ve been very lucky this past year to work with incredible people, so my current goal is to keep doing that. And hopefully make contact and work with people who are creatively active and interesting and do amazing work.

by Natalie Egling

Monsters: Dark Continent will screen at the London Film Festival and is released in late November

The Keeping Room and Fury will also screen at this year’s BFI London Film Festival in October

Photographs by Justin van Vliet