SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major plot details about Peter Berg’s World War II film “The Mosquito Bowl.”

Tom Francis was given almost no time to prepare for one of the most unexpected moments in “The Mosquito Bowl”: a fully staged musical performance added to Peter Berg’s film at the last minute.

Francis, who plays college football star and Marine David Schreiner, said Berg sent him a song with a straightforward instruction: “Just learn this for tomorrow.”

“I had no idea what I was going to be doing with it,” Francis recalled. “I thought it was going to be around a campfire. I didn’t realize it was going to be fully staged.”

The resulting scene places Francis’ character in a bar, singing before the men are sent to war. Although Schreiner was not a singer in real life, the addition allowed Berg to draw upon the British actor’s established stage experience before the story moves into its graphic and devastating battlefield sequences.

Francis lands a director high on his wish list

Working with Berg fulfilled an ambition Francis had identified soon after signing with his U.S. agents at CAA. He said one of his first emails to them contained a list of directors he hoped to work with, along with his reasons for choosing each name.

“Pete was right at the top of the list because I love ‘Friday Night Lights,’” Francis said.

That wish became reality with “The Mosquito Bowl,” Berg’s latest movie and the true story of four college football stars who served in the Marines during World War II. Francis stars alongside Nicholas Galitzine as John McLaughry, Ray Nicholson as Tony Butkovich and Bill Skarsgård as Bob Baumann.

Francis described Berg as open, warm, honest and loving, saying the director had helped him through difficult periods and created a sense of family around him.

The role marks another step in Francis’ move from theater into screen work. He won a Laurence Olivier Award for “Sunset Boulevard” and received a Tony nomination for his Broadway debut opposite Nicole Scherzinger in the Jamie Lloyd play. His stage credits also include “Rent,” “& Juliet” and “Hair.”

Francis made his movie debut in Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” and also appeared in the fifth and final season of Netflix’s “You.”

A deliberately uncomfortable depiction of war

“The Mosquito Bowl” is based on Buzz Bissinger’s book “The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II.” The story centers on a football game played by Marines as they prepared for the Battle of Okinawa.

The film does not soften what follows. Its battlefield violence is presented graphically, and the fates of the four central men give the story its emotional weight: McLaughry is the only one who survives the war.

According to Francis, cinematographer Jacques Jouffret was determined not to romanticize the setting. He told the actor that although the production had acquired numerous palm trees, he did not intend to photograph them as picturesque scenery.

“We’re setting them on fire,” Francis recalled Jouffret saying. “We can’t glorify this. It has to be as true to what they went through as possible.”

Francis stressed that the actors’ experience could not be compared with what the real men endured. However, he credited Jouffret and Berg with creating a visual approach that felt visceral, intense and, at times, uncomfortable.

The closing credits underscore the youth of the men by listing their ages. All four were just 24 during World War II.

“They were so young. They had so much life to live,” Francis said, reflecting on the families, friends, jobs and futures they left behind. He added that the story deepened his respect for that generation, as well as those who came before and after it.

ShowBiz Take

The last-minute song is more than an opportunity for Francis to display his vocal ability. Within the film’s structure, it offers a glimpse of the men’s lives before the brutality of war takes over, making the subsequent losses even more stark.

It also neatly connects two sides of Francis’ career. His theater background became part of a major sequence in a movie directed by someone he had specifically named as a hoped-for collaborator. At the same time, “The Mosquito Bowl” gave him the experience of helping shape a new screen project rather than entering a familiar stage production.

What Happens Next?

Francis wants to return to theater, particularly for an original play. He said he misses the adrenaline of live performance and is attracted to the ownership and responsibility that come with telling a story for the first time, after appearing in several revivals or stepping into existing productions.

That interest does not mean he is turning away from the screen. As Francis put it: “I really love being in movies.”

“The Mosquito Bowl” is in theaters now and debuts on Netflix on Nov. 25.