Will Poulter on Union County, The Bear, and Top Picks
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- "Union County" (out Aug. 14) stars Will Poulter as an addict navigating state-mandated rehab in rural Ohio—a role that mirrors his prior turn as an OxyContin pharmaceutical rep in Hulu's 2021 series "Dopesick," giving him a view of the opioid epidemic "from both sides."
- Will Poulter said "Union County" highlights "a workable program that is incredibly dignified and humanizing and scientifically supported and proven to be successful" for substance abuse recovery.
- "Rabbit, Rabbit" is an upcoming Netflix hostage thriller starring Poulter and Adam Driver, recently filmed in New Jersey.
- "The Bear" cast Poulter as a pastry chef from Copenhagen, a role he called "life-changing" that sent him to train under chef Dave Beran at his restaurants Pasjoli and Seline in Santa Monica.
- Dave Beran recently won Best Chef: California at the James Beard Awards and earned his first Michelin star for his fine-dining restaurant Seline.
- Boots Riley's film "I Love Boosters" featured Poulter earlier this year.
Why it matters: Poulter's pivot from "Dopesick" to "Union County" puts him on both sides of the opioid epidemic in scripted work, with the new film arriving Aug. 14 and explicitly endorsed by the actor as modeling a "scientifically supported" recovery approach—giving the project promotional weight as more than a character study.
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