Taylor John Smith Talks Preparing for ‘Warfare’

From a deleted scene in “Hunger Games” to a starring role in “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Taylor John Smith has built up an impressive resume. On Friday, he appeared on stage at the Taormina Film Festival to introduce Ray Mendoza’s and Alex Garland’s film “Warfare.” Later, he sat down with Variety to talk about the film and his career so far.

You have “The Hunger Games” as one of your first credits.
I was not even a glorified extra on “The Hunger Games.” I was in the bonus scenes.

You got cut out?
Deleted scenes, exactly. It was my first time on a film set and Gary Ross was directing. It was a cool experience, but when you end up on the DVD, like bonus scenes here… I was just happy to be there, scared beyond anything. I’m so grateful that this has been my job, since I was 18.

Last night, you said that “Warfare” is not a pro- or anti-war film. What did you mean?
It’s about the consequences and the reality of war. We wanted to show what it means when somebody signs on a dotted line and sends young people off to fight. Hopefully, they realize it’s not a decision to take lightly. It’s hell and what we’re asking our young men and women to do is insane. When they’re overseas, they’re not thinking about the politics that got them there, they’re just trying to get home.

When did you first become aware of the project?
Around Christmas time, I was with my grandparents and my family in Delaware, spending quality time with them, but I couldn’t get up from my chair, reading this script. I told my agent: I’ll play the door they kick in. I met with Ray and Alex in L.A. and the conversation was less about the script and more about attitude. They wanted to know I was invested. This is going to be a kick in the balls. It’s going to be grueling, physically, emotionally, mentally.

You trained for the film.
We did live fire weapons training, radio etiquette, small unit tactics and drills. They gave…