The final days of World War II are explored in the new war drama film Operation Seawolf, written and directed by Steven Luke. The movie revolves around a U-boat commanded by the war-weary Hans Kessler (Dolph Lundgren) as it moves to strike New York City with a secret weapon. Moving on orders from American Commander Race Ingram (Frank Grillo), real-life historical figure and pioneering military officer Captain Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. (Hiram A. Murray) moves to intercept the seafaring Nazis. Though Kessler knows that the Axis Powers are poised to lose the war, he proves to be more dangerous than ever as he moves to outmaneuver Allied ships in the Atlantic Ocean.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Luke and Murray looked back on their cinematic and historical influences on bringing Operation Seawolf to life. The pair explained the themes in the film and shared what it was like working with Lundgren and Grillo on the project.

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CBR: I love that this film examines the idea of fighting a war even when you know the war is already lost; it's something that Kessler grapples with throughout the whole story. What was important about bringing that theme to this movie?

Steven Luke: I think when you're crafting a story and setting it in World War II, you're trying to maybe find different aspects that aren't as commonly told to an audience because there are plenty of films that have been made about it. That was one of the themes I hadn't seen too often, being an American -- spoiler alert, we won the war. [laughs] I had never thought about if you're losing, how are you able to just keep going? What drives a person to be able [to] keep fighting, even if all odds are that the war is lost. It was a very unique question, and I wanted to dive in and discover that and try to find a character to portray that.

On the other side, there is Commander Ingram and Captain Gravely, who are still committed to this war effort. What was it about having Ingram and Gravely as counterpoints to Kessler?

Hiram A. Murray: For Gravely, there's nothing more dangerous than a cornered, wounded animal, and that's what Kessler is. What's his last trick up his sleeve, and where is he going because now he's at his most dangerous point, and I want to stop him from deploying whatever it is he's about to do. That's my mindset because he's dangerous now, and I just want to stop him before he gets to his final destination.

Luke: I think it's so important to Ingram's character, played by Frank Grillo, to also make sure to have a quick, decisive end to this. You have this, "Why do the Germans keep trying this? We have the forces to stop this. This needs to happen now because this war is over, and we need to stop playing these games." I think that the act of him wanting to wrap this up fast is very important to the story and to his character.

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I feel like every submarine movie worships at the altar of Das Boot. How did you want to honor movies like that and Run Silent, Run Deep while differentiating the genre and adding your own unique voice to it?

Luke: Das Boot is almost like a perfect movie. Regardless [of] if it was a submarine movie or something else, it's a great movie, and it's almost like you're living in its shadow if you're taking on a submarine movie. Submarine movies are always character-driven, and they usually like to portray there's no hope because they're trapped in a submarine. When I was doing my research on submariners, that wasn't the case. These guys volunteered for these jobs on a submarine. They were wanting to be there. I really wanted to portray that sense of even if they were in a hopeless situation and the war was lost, they wanted to do a good job, and they volunteered for it. I thought that was a unique way to portray a submarine movie and submariners.

In contrast to Kessler being broken, Gravely and his crew are happy to be given the opportunity to hunt submarines. How was it spotlighting that positive side of duty in the film?

Murray: Here's the special thing about this role and Gravely -- because he's real. This movie was special to me because I'm a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, so taking on this role was super special to me because this guy was my forefather. He was the very first African American to be commissioned in the United States Navy, the very first African American Admiral in the United States Navy, and the ship that we portray in the movie, he commanded. Fun fact, the ship that we filmed on -- the USS Iowa -- he commanded on.

Back in that time period, when he got commissioned, there was a project called the V-12 program. It was an experiment to see if African Americans could even step up to the plate and lead. We had never been given an opportunity to come up to the table and play. When we get the call to say we can do it, we're excited! We've been training all this time, and they're finally going to let us play? Hell yeah, let us get in the fight and show you what we can do because we're going to set a precedent. If we can be successful, then you have to let us in and play in future engagements, and that's exactly what happened. If it hadn't been for Samuel L. Gravely, Jr., there'd have never been, in real life, a Captain Hiram A. Murray. So that's real excitement for me, the actor Hiram, as well as real excitement for Samuel L. Gravely, Jr.

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OPERATION SEAWOLF Allies

When you're filming on a ship or submarine, and it's cramped and claustrophobic all the time, how was it setting up shots?

Luke: We shot in a real World War II submarine called the USS Cod out in Cleveland, Ohio. Those guys were great, and we loved working with them. We turned it into a German submarine and called it Das Cod, and they thought that was hilarious. The submarine, while obviously big, the inside of it was so small. When you get all the actors into a shot or scene, you might have one camera angle that you're able to sneak in and get. Sometimes we'd have one shot at a scene, so we'd shoot a couple takes, and that's what we got because we had no other angle to get. That was a unique filming experience but also kind of challenging and fun because usually, you don't have just one angle.

What made you want to add an element of tension with Kessler's crew disobeying his command throughout the film?

Luke: I wanted to add that tension to his character and his younger crew, who aren't as obviously seasoned as he is, who don't necessarily believe in their commander. It's kind of like a point that a son maybe hits with his dad where they're like, "I don't need to listen to you, old man. I know how to do things better." That aspect of father/son, where we can learn from our elders that have come before us, I think is an important thing for people to see portrayed in this. I really wanted to bring that to life because I think this is a great way to solidify the characters and put them in elements to earn each other's respect and trust.

Hiram, you mentioned the responsibility of portraying a real-life figure for the film. Did you contact the Gravely family or take on other kinds of research for your performance?

Murray: Unfortunately, I didn't have the honor of meeting with his family, just my own research was reading books and Google. Fortunately for us, like I said, we filmed on an actual ship that he commanded. The curators of the museum were there and would tell us stories, and I had that wealth of knowledge there. That's all I had, and it was extremely useful, so I appreciated it.

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You guys really give viewers a bang for their buck with the number of submarine action sequences. What are some of your filmmaking techniques in instilling tension into a submarine action scene?

Luke: Much like any action scene, what I learned with a submarine, you just don't want to make things seem too easy and have the submarine wreaking havoc on everyone. A submarine is a very delicate boat. If it's up on the surface and gets hit in the right spot with a bullet, it loses its pressure to be able to submerge. It can be very vulnerable, and you just don't want to put it in a position where it can very easily get hit. I found that aspect to the battle, of getting into a position without [others] hopefully noticing them so they can escape and get away. If they do have to duke it out, what tricks do they have in order to escape the enemy, and [what] surprises do they have in order to pull off what they want because they necessarily win in a one-on-one, head-to-head clash?

How was it working with Dolph Lundgren and Frank Grillo on this project?

Murray: I loved working with both Dolph and Frank. Dolph, we've worked together before, and Frank, he was great. He gave me marriage advice during the breaks. [laughs] It was great, and as an actor, you always want to have a cohesive team moving forward. You don't want to just be nice and friendly when the cameras are on, and then everybody goes their separate ways or for there to be tension. To have a good, collaborative team on and off camera is always a dream, and I was happy to have that on this project.

Luke: Working with Frank and Dolph, they were obviously fantastic. I've gotten to work with Dolph a number of times, and just his experience and knowledge in filmmaking -- he's a director himself now, and he's been in some of the most iconic films that have ever been made. Just being able to learn things from him... He knows when something is working and something is not. He knows story very well. I was fortunate to work with him very early on, just developing his character and being able to talk story with Dolph is one of the greatest experiences of my life.

With Frank, it was the same way. He had his own ideas of where he wanted to see his character go and what we wanted him [to] look like, not necessarily in a negative light. It was about how he could tell this story while also portraying his best assets. Frank is obviously an action hero and used to a lot of action, and in a Navy submarine movie, there's not a lot of physical action that the guys are doing. Frank wanted to be sure we were always keeping the tension, that he should be moving and shifting. Just to see this action star focus on the little details that he can do in order to keep the action in his performance without having to be physical was so fun to experience and watch. They were both the same way and just incredible professionals and great guys.

Murray: It was nostalgic for me because Dolph was my childhood action superhero. He was my first He-Man, my first Punisher. He's Ivan Drago. All these classic action icons I grew up watching, now I'm acting opposite of. You're like a kid in a candy shop. You're in awe, but you have to maintain professional composure at the same time.

Written and directed by Steven Luke, Operation Seawolf opens in theaters and on demand Oct. 7, with a digital HD release Oct. 25.