Why Eiza González loved not having a romance with Henry Cavill in “Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare”
"Don't get me wrong, I love romance and I love watching it," the actor tells Entertainment Weekly.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, now in theaters.
Guy Ritchie's comedic action film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare could have included an epic romance between Henry Cavill and Eiza González's characters. After all, the people they play actually had an epic romance and married in real life. But you wouldn't know that from watching the film. Save for a short explainer in the end credits revealing their future nuptials, Ritchie chose to omit any mention of a relationship between intelligence agent Marjorie Stewart and team leader Gus March-Phillipps. And González couldn't be happier that she and Cavill didn't have to film any romantic scenes.
"I love that," the actor tells Entertainment Weekly. "I think that's such a unique take on it. We see these movies, and romance is such a big part of these films — and don't get me wrong, I love romance, and I love watching it. There's nothing more magical than seeing that James Bond moment where it's so sexy. But I really like that each character was just solely focused on their capacities, their talents, their job, and their wits. Nothing distracted from the mission."
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is based on the true story of the first-ever special forces organization formed by Winston Churchill during World War II. The historical events were uncovered in recently declassified British War Department files documenting the espionage group that had a major impact on the Allies' eventual victory over the Nazis. One aspect of the mission was led by March-Phillipps (Cavill), while Stewart (González) had to go undercover elsewhere to distract a sadistic Nazi officer. Their paths don't even cross much in the film as they each attempt to carry out their separate tasks, and we get no explanation of how they eventually fell in love. That's exactly what drew González to the role.
"Rarely do we get to see female characters involved in such a heavily masculine cast who has no emotional relationship on screen with them," González says. "I thought that was fascinating. That was really, really cool and unique, and I think quite contemporary of [Ritchie] to just be like, 'We don't need to.' That's just an aftermath that had nothing to do with who she is or who he is. It's unrelated to the mission, and it's great that they fell in love, but that's not making any difference to the story and not moving the story forward in an important way, so I was just like, 'Great. Let's not tackle it.'"
But she is happy audiences will still learn about Stewart and March-Phillips' connection before the credits start rolling to pay homage to these real-life heroes.
"I love it because it's quite a romantic little nod at the end that you see they actually fell in love," González says. "And tragically, she lost him right after the second mission. People were really risking their lives. We make it look very fun and entertaining, but these are really historic sweeping moments that changed history and changed the future that we are living nowadays, and we have to just be very grateful for what they did and how they honored their countries and what they did for us."
As for whether she'd like to return to this role for another film following Stewart and March-Phillips' relationship and tragic ending, that's a resounding yes. "I'd love a sequel," González says. "I'd love for people to go see it in the movie theaters and support it. It's one of my favorite movies I've ever been part of, and I think it's one of Guy's best movies ever."
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare opens in theaters April 19.
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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.