Civil War 's Stephen McKinley Henderson on Getting Cut From Dune: Part Two and Doing His Own Stunt Driving at 74

Murray Close

The beloved character actor Stephen McKinley Henderson feels so strongly about his new film, Alex Garland's Civil War, that he speaks in almost existential terms about it.

"I can honestly say, I was thinking when we were doing it that if this were the last film that I was going to do, I would just be so proud to be a part of this one," he says over Zoom from Los Angeles, where he's shooting an upcoming TV series with Ted Danson.

In Civil War, Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura are reporters on their way to the frontlines of a near-future U.S. in violent chaos; Henderson plays Sammy, a veteran print journalist (for “what’s left of the New York Times”) who hitches a ride with them. They are fearful because of Sammy's age and relative immobility, and rightfully so given the treacherous journey. Sammy, however, is well aware this may be his final trip.

It's just the latest in a run of high profile movies with hot directors for the 74-year-old actor, who for most of his career was known for his work in theater. He's become a regular in the A24 universe, which includes his memeable work as the priest-slash-theater teacher in Lady Bird whose deeply felt remorse when his production of Merrily We Roll Along isn't well received is heartbreaking. More recently he played Joaquin Phoenix's psychiatrist in Ari Aster's Beau Is Afraid, working alongside his Juilliard classmate Patti LuPone. ("She's out there, man, and always has been," he says. "And a great, great artist.")

Henderson's presence is so unique that there was outrage when his character, the human computer Thufir Hawat, was cut from Dune: Part Two. Not that Henderson has any hard feelings about that, recounting director Denis Villeneuve's apologetic phone call. "He called me months ago to say, 'Oh my friend, I'm so sorry, my friend," Henderson says, mimicking Villeneuve's French-Canadian accent. "He really was genuine." Despite the outcome, Henderson says he had a great time hanging out with Christopher Walken, Austin Butler, Stellan Skarsgård, and Josh Brolin when he was in Budapest to film his scenes.

Henderson never planned for this late-career Hollywood resurgence. It came as a result of his performance opposite Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the 2010 Broadway revival of August Wilson’s Fences. Henderson had long been one of the foremost interpreters of Wilson's work, but the starry production brought celebs to the theater who wanted to cast him, which led to jobs in Lincoln, Tower Heist, and eventually the Fences film adaptation, which Washington directed.

He's still a presence on the New York stage—he earned a Tony nomination last year for Between Riverside and Crazy—but theater work takes its toll. "The theater takes you away for so long from the family," he says. "Now I can pick my fights. I'm slowing down a bit, just because I can." (He explains he's excited to be working on the Danson comedy in Los Angeles, so he can see his three grandchildren who live there.)

But Henderson's move into film has also brought him close relationships with auteurs like Garland, who he first collaborated with on the television series Devs, where he played a computer programmer with poetry in his soul. During their first meeting, they spent over an hour together, and Henderson started reciting Shelley and Yeats.

When Garland presented Henderson with the script for Civil War, his mind also went to the classics. He thought about Eurepides' The Trojan Women and Shakespeare's War of the Roses plays. "It's not about a specific one place or one time, but the truths that come out in it are about how human beings respond to the pressures of different eras and times," Henderson says.

The film, in addition to being another chance to work with Garland, felt "personally meaningful" to Henderson, who mentioned Minneapolis, Charlottesville, and Charleston as American cities that currently exemplify division. "You can't drive through this country if you know America's history," he says. "Every city you drive through, there's some story to be told."

A master of existential sci-fi runs down his filmography, from the Leo DiCaprio thriller that put him on the map to the new American-nightmare epic he’s said will be the last thing he directs.

Henderson had worked with his Civil War castmates Cailee Spaeny (who he calls "courageous") and Nick Offerman on Devs, but they all bonded through rehearsal time in which Garland had them watch sobering documentaries on conflict. Despite the intense subject matter, Henderson says, they found joy on set, shooting scenes while packed into a van that was really piloted by the actors. Moura, Henderson says, is a "great wheelman," but Henderson also did some of his own driving in one key sequence. "In your 70s, to get to be in an action movie?" he says. "I gotta tell you, I love it."

But Henderson also feels like this film represents something larger than himself and his career. "I felt that we were doing a service," he says. "I really honestly want my fellow citizens to see this film and talk to each other and see who they're sitting next to in the movie house."

Civil War certainly won't be the last thing Henderson ever does. There's the Danson comedy he's working on, from Mike Schur, plus a limited series with Colman Domingo. Still, before we say goodbye, he repeats one more time that if this turned out to be his last movie, he'd be okay with that. "With this one, I felt we're really doing something that's good for the country and for our time," he says.

Originally Appeared on GQ