Will Poulter, Noah Centineo Detail Working With Ohio Recovery Community on UNION COUNTY
The film brings first-time actors from a real recovery program into its supporting cast.
Will Poulter and Noah Centineo appeared on the 3rd Hour of TODAY to discuss their film Union County, which draws heavily on a real drug court in Ohio and the community it serves. Poulter and Centineo star in and produced the movie, and they used the appearance to explain how closely the production worked with people connected to the recovery program depicted on screen.
Much of the conversation centered on the decision to cast first-time actors who were themselves working within the recovery program, rather than relying solely on professional performers. Poulter and Centineo described the collaboration as central to how the film was built, with the goal of reflecting the recovery community's experience as accurately as possible on screen.
The pair also talked about plans to bring Union County back to Ohio for a five-city run so that people connected to the drug court and recovery program could see the finished film and offer feedback. That return trip was framed as a way to answer directly to the community whose story shaped the project.
The TODAY appearance gave Poulter and Centineo a chance to walk through the practical side of that collaboration, from casting choices to the decision to screen the film where its story originated. Their comments focused on the relationship between the filmmakers and the real people whose experiences informed Union County.
