“Lord of the Flies” Stars Winston Sawyers, David McKenna & Ike Talbut on Brotherhood, Brutality & Real Chemistry

When it came to finding actors for Netflix series Lord of the Flies (now streaming), many were called, but few were chosen. Casting director Nina Gold, now in charge of finding the next James Bond, auditioned more than 1,000 UK boys in the quest to re-enact William Golding’s disturbing 1954 novel about British school kids stranded on a remote island after their plane crashes.  

The children who made it to the top of the call sheet portrayed characters whose struggle to survive only grows grimmer by the day. But as it turns out, three young actors emerged from the Malaysian island rainforest locations charmingly unscathed by the 15-week shoot. During a recent visit to Los Angeles, Winston Sawyers (Ralph), David McKenna (Piggy), and Ike Talbut (Simon) revealed themselves to be funny, articulate, and thoughtful as they chatted with The Credits about extreme heat, Kendrick Lamar, tropical swimming, mosquito bites, and the secrets of naturalistic acting.  

Welcome to L.A.

All: Whoo!

You guys rehearsed with director Marc Munden for about five weeks before filming began. Since none of you had any professional experience before making Lord of the Flies, I’m curious what you learned about the craft of acting?

Winston: We literally learned almost everything from our amazing acting coach Tommy Lawrence. We read through the scenes first, then acted them out, and also had one-on-one sessions that sometimes completely departed from the script.

Ike: And we did stuff with a choreographer called Polly, where you’re imagining a ball of energy between the characters, and you have to sort of think about who’s in control of the energy and who’s dominant and which way you’re leaning and stuff.

David: Yeah, and then in tandem, you move either forward or back.

Winston: As in, you keep the same [physical] distance without even communicating [with dialogue]. It’s just about building that energy between two actors. I think that’s where a lot of the magic in the show comes from.

Ike: And a huge thing Marc wanted to convey in the acting was the truth of this reality.

David: Sometimes we didn’t even know cameras were rolling.

Ike: They didn’t say “Action”—they’d just film us messing about on set with some sand and stuff. That was a really good direction to go in, I think, because it allowed us to sort of be ourselves more. And another big thing Marc said a lot was “Don’t sell it.”

Meaning…

Ike: Don’t try to convey something to the audience—just think the thoughts and be the character, and it’ll come across.

Winston: Building off that point, I think it was really good advice because we were able to be less self-conscious and do our performance in a way that feels natural. We’re not constantly fretting over every meticulous detail. Instead, it’s just “Well, this is how a kid would act.”

David: 100 percent.  

You did your auditions in England with its temperate climate. Then you get off the plane in sweltering Malaysia, where the temperature might get up to 95 degrees or more. How did you deal with intense heat?

Winston: Once we landed in Kuala Lumpur, my dad and I went for a long walk to the mall, and he was like, “Okay, I know you’re hot, I know you’re super thirsty, but try and rap Kendrick Lamar.” I’d memorized a song of his that I really liked, so I rapped Kendrick Lamar just to make my brain work, even though I’m tired and jet-lagged. That definitely helped, just because I was doing something I liked. So then on set, when I have to perform with crazy heat, it’s not that big of a deal. But there was one time, I had a whole array of different kinds of bug bites on my leg. It was insane.  

David: For me, there were days where the heat was extreme, and you’d be sort of holding on by a thread, but I would just try not to think about the climate and think more about the scene. Now I look back at it, and I’m like “Whoa!”

Ike: And you can even use that irritation to add to the honesty of the piece, because the boys would be irritated by the heat, and they’re getting bitten by mosquitoes.

David: Getting sunburned.

Ike: Which is not to say that we weren’t taken care of. They were spraying us with bug spray and sunscreen every five seconds. 

The terrain on these tropical islands can be pretty rugged. David, you were sometimes transported to remote locations on a carriage?

David: Yeah, they’d put me in…it was like a wheelbarrow. A ten-wheeled wheelbarrow with a little pad on it. And then I’d just sit on it, and they’d sort of carry me up [the hill]. At one point, Joel carried me on his shoulders.  

Ike: And Toto was the best. He was one of the costume guys from the Malaysian crew. When the tide was too low, and the boats couldn’t get close enough to the shore, Toto would get us on his back and just walk us to the set.  

In America, we call that riding “piggyback.”

Winston: [looking at David] Piggy on his back.  

Sorry, no pun intended. Listening to you talk, it sounds like you all had a lot in common with your characters. But what would you say is the biggest difference between your character and who you are in normal life?

Winston: The accent! Oh my god, it was tough. At the end of the day, my mouth was sore from talking in that British accent. Shout out to Hugh, our dialect coach.

David: “Take care” instead of “car.”

Ike: In terms of Simon, it’s really just my confidence. I would definitely stand up for myself more than he does. When I was 10 and 11, I used to be a lot [more] like Simon, and it was helpful to draw upon those memories.  

David: Piggy’s a lot more organized than I am. And I don’t think I’m as pessimistic as he is. With the [signal] fire and everything, Piggy expects things to go wrong before they even happen.

Winston: And also, no offense to Piggy, but he does complain a lot about all sorts of things. 

Ike: Whereas David’s like jolly old…  

Winston: David’s just so chill.

David: Piggy moans, doesn’t he?

Winston: But we love him for it.

Each of your characters has a tense relationship with Jack the bully, played convincingly by Lox Pratt. What was it like doing scenes with such a cruel character?

Ike: I bonded with Lox because when I was going in for my very first in-person audition, this kid was coming out with his mum, and that was Lox. Then he was at my second audition, a group workshop, so I was “Hang on. I saw you at the last one.” We exchanged contacts and became friends. By the end [of rehearsals] we had really good chemistry. I think our performances would have been worse if we hadn’t had that connection. You can go as far as you want in these intense scenes with Jack because you know the director’s going to say cut, and then you can just be hanging out with your best mate.

Winston: I really liked some of the arguing scenes with Lox because it’s not a competition, but at the same time, you’re gonna see who can take it further. If Jack gets angry, then I’m getting angrier. Lox gives you so many opportunities to add your own flair.

David: Lox and I became friends quite quickly, and that was one of the things we both kind of laughed at. Like, it was fun that he was gonna get to beat me up, and it was fun that he’d be really mean to me

Winston: Exactly. And then once the camera’s off, we’re all joking around.

David: Hugging it out.  

Winston: Having a soda

David: A lot of soda.

The island rainforest can be intimidating, but it also has beautiful waterfalls, streams, and pools. Did you enjoy diving into those scenes?

David: I didn’t get to.

Ike: I feel really bad for you.

Winston: But it was so good.

Ike: My second-to-last day on set. I—well, Simon—got to go swimming with Ralph, and Piggy’s there, but he’s not swimming. [to David] We splashed you, but you don’t get to splash back.

Winston: I got to eat mangoes with David and swim all day. It was the most refreshing thing, because it’s also just washing away whatever, the stress, washing away everything from… almost five months. You can just lie back and relax. 

Over a period of months, you shot Lord of the Flies in increments, scene by scene, day by day. Much later, you get to see the final product. What was your gut reaction when you watched Lord of the Flies for the first time?

Winston: Ultimate satisfaction. Everyone in the cast smashed it. I was just blown away, and also, it felt cool knowing “That scene was filmed there. This scene was filmed over here, but those locations are actually two miles apart.” It was amazing just to see how everything came together.

Ike: I would say my first reaction was utter awe at the spectacle of it all, the way it’s directed, the writing, the cinematography is phenomenal. And my second reaction was, I gasped when I heard my voice. Because we filmed the show like two years before we finally saw it, which is a long time. My voice was so high back then, it was a like a jump scare!

David: I’d moved on and gone back to normal life, so you feel a bit disconnected. But then, seeing the show for the first time and remembering everything, it was a beautiful feeling.

Lord of the Flies is streaming on Netflix.

Featured image: Supporting Artists as Ensemble “Biguns”, Thomas Connor as Roger, Winston Sawyers as Ralph, David McKenna as Piggy, Lake Coleman as “Littlun”, Ike Talbut as Simon. J Redza/Eleven/Sony Pictures Television