The most enduring scene of Alex Garland’s Civil War saw Jesse Plemons don some sweet shades – and it almost didn’t happen. Alex Garland’s conflicted war movie attracted its fair share of controversy when it arrived in cinemas in 2024. For some, the idea of a world where Texas and California unite to take on ... Civil War | Jesse Plemons’ best scene was an accident
The most enduring scene of Alex Garland’s Civil War saw Jesse Plemons don some sweet shades – and it almost didn’t happen.
Alex Garland’s conflicted war movie attracted its fair share of controversy when it arrived in cinemas in 2024. For some, the idea of a world where Texas and California unite to take on an authoritarian President without spelling out their policy complaints wasn’t plausible. For others, that was sort of the point.
But one thing almost everyone seemed to agree on was that Jesse Plemons – who appears briefly as a rose-tinted psychopath – was terrifying.
As it turns out though, the film’s most affecting scene almost came together by accident.
Speaking to the LA Times, Garland revealed that Plemons wasn’t supposed to be in the film at all. During rehearsals, another actor was scheduled to take the role on – until the director got the call no filmmaker wants to receive.
“I was standing out on the street when I got the call and I thought, ‘Oh s—. Now, now we’re in trouble,’” Garland said. With production only a week away, they needed a replacement fast. Luckily, lead Kirsten Dunst had a very valuable connection sat on her sofa.
“I went to the rehearsal and said, ‘Bad news, guys, so and so can’t do it,’ Garland continued. “And Kirsten said, ‘What? You should ask Jesse.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that would be amazing’… It was a stunning bit of good luck.”
Of course, Plemons’ character would be nothing without his iconic red shades. Adding a splash of colour into an incredibly tense scene, the Glastonbury-style glasses came in at the actor’s suggestion.
“When Alex [Garland] and I spoke, he wanted Jesse’s character to be in a military uniform. There was no other discussion to it,” Civil War’s costume designer Meghan Kasperlik told GQ.
“Jesse brought the sunglasses to the fitting and asked what we thought… I was hesitant at first, as I did not want them to take away from the intensity of the scene.”
The accessory adds a terrifying mystery to an incredibly grounded incident. “To me, the sunglasses should make the audience question everything about this character,” Kasperlik added.
“Who is this man? Why is he wearing them? Did he remove them from a person before taking their life?”
While Dunst no doubt had a lovely time watching her husband at the top of his game, for co-star Cailee Spaeny, the experience sounds much more intense.
“Jesse was completely in character, improvising the whole time and just drilling me. I was just thinking, ‘Oh my God, Jesse, please stop!’, Spaeny told Entertainment Weekly.
“It was so haunting. He did such a brilliant job, but my God, after two days of that, it was a lot.”
