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photo by Stanley Morgan, courtesy of Elliot Warren.
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On the Verge: Elliot Warren Talks Breaking into Writing and Acting, Apple TV+’s ‘Masters of the Air’


March 20, 2024

Most actors are forced to chase work, relying on others to hire them. It’s the unfortunate reality of the business.

Elliot Warren, though, is different. A writer and director himself, his career as a multi-hyphenate has taken off in recent years. The play he wrote, Flesh and Bone, won awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, made it to London and won him a special Olivier Award, the British version of the Tonys. That said, acting is his primary metier, and a small part in a huge movie proved transformative (see below). Currently, he’s playing Lieutenant James Douglass in Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air, but he’s also got a whole lot of other things going on, both in front of and behind the camera.

He talked to us from his home in London.

How did you get into acting in the first place?

I always loved drama at school, but I wanted to be a boxer. I was a boxing champion in my county in England and was going full force with that. I’m from a working-class background, I never really knew how to get into the acting world, so I thought boxing was what I was going to do. But my drama teachers were pushing and pushing for me to keep going with it. I remember watching Bronson, with Tom Hardy when I was about 15 or so and just fell in love with it. I thought, “Oh, my God, this is what I want to do.” It took me a little while, I did about a million different jobs and all sorts of other things. Then at 20, I decided that I’d finally go to drama school. I got into one and then it was just no looking back.

How did you start writing? A lot of actors try, but you’re succeeding with it.

I was the first person in my class to get an agent. So I thought, “Brilliant. I’m gonna be James Bond. That’s it.” But it doesn’t work like that. (Laughs) I just started to go out on my own course, make my own work and get myself out there.

I did two things. In 2015, I made a short called Stick Up, about two criminals. It was a bit of a comedy and that went viral. It got 12 million views and back then, that was a big deal. Then I wrote a play called Flesh and Bone. We did it in a 30-seater pub theater and one night there were two people in the audience. A drunk guy at the front and my mom at the back with a Flesh and Bone t-shirt on.

It was quite, quite pathetic. But then we went on a crazy journey with it. We were invited to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, we took it to Australia where we won Best Fringe Show of the year, then back to London, went to a Soho theatre and it won a bloody Olivier Award.

You’re certainly doing fine on the acting side. You have a brief but very memorable role as the gang leader in The Batman, who gets his ass kicked by the Caped Crusader.

I feel like I got very lucky with that part. I was just happy to be in The Batman, but it ended up being such an iconic moment in the film. Even in the trailer. That was even better for me than the job itself.

I was going to ask if being in the trailer, when he beats you up and says, “I’m vengeance,” what that did for you.

It did loads. Because I had that line as well, “What the hell are you supposed to be?” People lost their minds. Yeah, it was brilliant, and I think it got me in a lot more rooms. It got people talking. I think it’s always all about that. What can I get to make myself marketable for people? With Masters of the Air, I’m quite a cheeky chappie, and I get to introduce myself with a little wink. I think those little moments are massive for when you’re not a lead character because you’re just trying to put yourself on a platform where people will remember you. You’ve just got to keep finding those moments.

You did my job for me, segueing into Masters. What kind of research were you able to do on James Douglass?

There wasn’t a lot of information, but I was lucky enough that the family reached out so I was able to talk to them and get some information about what he was like and whether we were going down the right road. Because as I said, he’s a bit of a cheeky chap. Very confident. They said, “Yeah, no, that was Granddad.” All that was on the internet were his accolades.

In talking to other actors from the show, it’s clear everyone got into honoring the real men they were playing, but what I’m curious about is if the hierarchy translated to real life.

To a certain extent, yes, but not in an egotistical way. I think at the very beginning of boot camp, we all were looking to Callum [Turner] and Austin [Butler], because they were our leads. They were the most famous pilots of the 100th Bomb Squad.

As we settled down, we found that brotherhood between the crews. David [Shields] plays my pilot. I was the Bombardier of his plane. Same with Anthony Boyle, who was the navigator on our plane. So we three became very close, just like the real guys did.

Maybe their souls were speaking through you.

For sure. I’m a firm believer in things like that. I think that had to be at play.

With all you’ve got going on, is your future in front of the camera or behind it? Or both?

I kind of straddle both. I just finished another acting job in December, and I’ve jumped straight on to a writing job for the BBC at the minute. I’ve also written a feature film called Bruiser, which is a boxing film, but it’s about suicidal young men in this country. I’ve got talks next week with some producers that are excited about it. I’d be directing that. I’d like to be in it as well.

I’ve also just finished another writing project, a 30-minute mad Apocalypse comedy/drama thing called Stress Heads. It takes place in a world with 30-second attention spans, and the world is so mad that people’s heads are just popping and turning into zombie nutters.

It sounds like you’ve got so much going on that that could be you if you’re not careful.

You’re right. I don’t ever really switch off. (Laughs) I’ve got probably about 10 projects on the go, I’m auditioning for a TV show in two days as well, and it is all a bit mental. I’ve also noticed that I’m talking without commas and full stops. I need to rein it in. (Laughs)

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