The Current War Director's Cut: Exclusive Interview With Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon

(10/25/2019)

In THE CURRENT WAR: DIRECTOR'S CUT director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon chronicles the battle of wills between inventors and businessmen Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, as each man tries to turn his electrical system into the choice that will power the nation.

The film is set during the 1880s as Edison, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, proposes his Direct Current system to light the Chicago World's Fair — and ultimately the United States and the world. George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) teams with the brilliant Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult) to propose a competing standard, Alternating Current. The war between these inventors was waged in words and business, and with technology, and the outcome helped define the future.

At the film's press day, we sat down with Cumberbatch, Shannon, and Tuppence Middleton, who plays Mary Stilwell Edison, who told us about their research process and the surprising details they learned while making the film, such as the connection between this battle and the development of the electric chair.

You can see our conversation here:

We also sat down with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, who told us that he turned to a variety of biographical books for information on Edison, and also to the inventor's own archived letters. Ultimately, he says, "I liked the way [Edison] was always trying to defy mother nature, and moving so fast onto the next idea so he wouldn't see himself fail."

Check out our full video interview below:

THE CURRENT WAR: DIRECTOR'S CUT is in theatres now!

All images courtesy of 101 Studios.