As William Franklyn-Miller takes on his biggest role yet as the lead in “Young Washington,” currently filming, the British actor is reflecting on how his experience in directors Guan Hu and Fei Zhenxiang’s Chinese WWII epic “Dongji Rescue” fundamentally changed his approach to filmmaking.
“I wouldn’t have got it if it wasn’t for ‘Dongji,’” says Franklyn-Miller, who has a recurring role in Apple TV’s “Neuromancer” and previously appeared in Netflix’s “Medici,” of landing the coveted young George Washington role. “I experienced so much just how to attack a scene of such a budget, and also how to play these challenging roles.”
“Dongji Rescue” dramatizes the real-life Lisbon Maru incident of October 1942, when Chinese fishermen from Dongji Island rescued 384 British prisoners of war after their transport vessel was accidentally torpedoed by an American submarine. The cast features Chinese stars Zhu Yilong (“Only the River Flows”), Wu Lei (“Shadow”), and Ni Ni (“The Flowers of War”) alongside Franklyn-Miller’s British medic.
While Franklyn-Miller remains tight-lipped about his upcoming role (“Can’t reveal too much. It’s young Washington. So it’s very exciting”), he emphasizes how the “Dongji Rescue” experience shaped his preparation. “My character is not the biggest throughout the film, but regardless, it’s really an important character, and he has a lot of weight, and there’s a lot of backstory about it.”
The casting came through traditional channels, though with a quick turnaround. “They reached out actually to my modeling agent first, which was quite funny, and it got sent to my acting agents. But yeah, I did one audition that was very casual, maybe two minutes long, and it got sent off. And within the next three days, I was on a flight to China.”
The young actor, who plays a British medic rescued by fishing brothers portrayed by Chinese stars Zhu Yilong and Wu Lei, had little time to prepare for the challenging shoot. Production supplied him with “hundreds and hundreds of documents” about life as a prisoner of war, though he notes that the documentary “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru” – China’s entry to the Oscars’ international category – was actually released while they were filming.
Working on the remote Dongji Island location added emotional heft to the production. “I feel like you could feel a bit of the weight as you’re on Dongji Island, about how many people had lost their lives just offshore,” Franklyn-Miller reflects.
The production marked the biggest budget film of Franklyn-Miller’s career to date. “They built a town on an island from scratch. And it wasn’t just a normal island – this was rural. It took like four hours by ferry to get there. So it was immense.”
Perhaps the most significant challenge was the language barrier. For the first time in his career, Franklyn-Miller couldn’t communicate directly with his director. “It was either through a translator, or a lot of the time through just actions and sort of mimes,” he explains. “I remember there was a scene that we were going down at the docks where the director [Fei Zhenxiang] really wanted a specific look, and I wasn’t quite getting it because I couldn’t quite understand the translation. So he came down from the camera room and actually did it himself. He’s an actor himself.”
The physical demands proved equally challenging. With underwater sequences comprising over 40% of the runtime, cast members required extensive breath-holding training. “It was tough, man, it was tough,” Franklyn-Miller admits. “Nothing really prepared me for the heat over there. I mean, it was really, really hot. It was 30, 40 degrees all the time. And sometimes 40-minute hikes to set, to then run and jump off a cliff.”
Building rapport with an ensemble cast required creative communication methods. “The entire cast don’t all speak English,” he notes. “A lot of the times, it was either with people that could translate or it was through actions. And obviously smiling goes a long way.”
The experience proved transformative for the actor’s career trajectory. While he played a supporting role “Dongji Rescue,” Franklyn-Miller has now stepped up to lead “Young Washington.” “I wasn’t a lead in ‘Dongji,’ but I’m a lead in ‘Young Washington.’ And everything I’ve learned in ‘Dongji’ – just being patient, listening to a director, feeding off the other actors, even without language.”
The lessons extend beyond performance technique. “There’s a scene in ‘Young Washington’ with the French, and we need a translator in that as well. And so there’s bits I can take from ‘Dongji’ and put it into ‘Young Washington,’” he explains. “It’s just an evolving sense.”
The physical demands of “Dongji Rescue” also proved invaluable training. The film marked Franklyn-Miller’s first experience with professional stunts, including a dramatic cliff scene. “On ‘Dongji’ were the first ever stunts I did. That cliff scene was my first ever stunt. And there’s plenty of stunts in ‘Young Washington,’ so I think everything leading up to ‘Young Washington’ has really helped through ‘Dongji.’”
Working with Cannes award-winner Guan Hu (“Black Dog,” “The Eight Hundred”) left a lasting impression. After watching Hu’s previous film, the Cannes-winning “Black Dog,” in a private screening arranged by the production, Franklyn-Miller was struck by the director’s distinctive vision. “It was very gritty. The Pink Floyd references were great,” he recalls. “He’s got such an eye for things. And he was really, really patient with me as well, with the language barrier and everything. He knows what he wants, and that from a director, I think, is the most important thing – being direct.”
“Dongji Rescue” opened in China on Aug. 8 and in U.K. and Irish cinemas on Aug.22.
