Rebecca Ferguson Discusses Nuclear Threat in New Film at Venice Festival

Should one be afraid that a nuclear war can break out at any time? In "A house of dynamite", with Swedish Rebecca Ferguson in the lead role, the question is put on its edge. What one should be afraid of is that a person has the power to press the button and start the war. Scary? It is frightening, she says when TT meets her at the film festival in Venice.

» Published: September 03 2025 at 19:23

The film is director Kathryn Bigelow's first in seven years – a thriller about the nuclear threat we live under but which she believes we have almost forgotten. A nuclear charge is suddenly on its way to the USA, probably Chicago. Which country is it coming from?

Will the USA respond and if so, in what way and to whom? There are 18 minutes left until Chicago is erased.

Drilled by soldiers

Bigelow has assembled a fine cast of actors, including Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Idris Elba as the President of the USA, and Rebecca Ferguson as Olivia Walker, one of those leading the increasingly stressful job in the situation room in the White House.

She was drilled before filming on how it would go in the event of a real nuclear attack.

For those who do the job, it's about putting all the emotional stuff aside during an attack. Leave the human, don't raise your voice, work efficiently, everything has to be about the technical.

Around her, she didn't just have actors, but also several former soldiers who understood and could convey the knowledge of all the code words and abbreviations used in the film.

I was more the one who said "what do you want on the pizza?".

Works as an alarm clock?

The team behind "A house of dynamite” (the title refers to the fact that the Earth is filled with explosives that could wipe us out at any time) hopes that the film will work as an alarm clock when it is broadcast on Netflix.

I wish it would, that it could teach the audience, make them understand that we have lived with the nuclear threat for decades, just that it's quiet about it now.

When Ferguson now leaves Venice, it's to jump into two ongoing productions – "Dune 3" is being filmed in Budapest and Reykjavik, at home in England she is working on the third season of the TV series "Silo".