Archie Renaux recalls how time working as AC engineer made him realise he wanted to act: 'Is this going to be the rest of my life' | Exclusive

War actor Archie Renaux talks about playing an upstart lawyer in the new HBO legal drama, and how his life and his character's journey had some parallels.

Published on: Oct 6, 2026, 06:05:01 IST

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In a short career, Archie Renaux has established himself as one of the actors to watch in the current crop. After successful stints in Gold Digger and Shadow and Bone, he is now garnering praise for his appearance on the HBO show War. But very few know that Archie almost didn’t even become an actor. Once upon a time, he was training to be an air-conditioning engineer, but his life took a turn. In a chat with , Archie reveals how that change happened and also talks about War.

Archie Renaux on War

In War, Archie plays Johnny Warren, a young lawyer caught in the middle of two big law firms at loggerheads with each other. Archie admits he was happy that, despite it being a legal drama, War doesn’t shackle the actors with too much legal jargon in the lines. “This is a show about law, but because it doesn’t have too much of that, it is much more engaging for audiences and more character-driven,” he says.

His character, Johnny, starts off as an errand boy for the senior lawyers and even gets to do some sleuthing. Talking about the opportunity to play such a diverse role, the actor says, “Getting to run off on little missions here and there is a whole avenue and gives you so many other things to think about, rather than it just being a legal case.”

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‘Is this going to be my life’

In War, when the show begins, Johnny is waiting tables while he waits for the job opportunity that would change his life. His character is even told to ‘not be too good at it’, lest he lose his drive to pursue a legal career. When asked if that was relatable, Archie responds with a smile, “Nobody ever told me to be too good at that because I wasn’t too good at that.”

The actor says he was an apprentice AC engineer at just 18, working a 9-to-5. “I was only an apprentice. I was quite lucky that the guys I was shadowing and learning from made it sound quite mundane and boring before me. It was actually that which kick-started the thought, ‘Is that going to be the rest of my life?’ If they were more enthusiastic about it, things might have been a little different. It didn’t pique my interest at all,” the actor says. Around the same time, Archie began his modelling career and then graduated to acting, realising ‘this was something I was more interested in’.

About War

Created by George Kay, War focuses on the high-profile divorce of a Hollywood star (Sienna Miller) and her tech billionaire husband (Dominic West). The series also stars Phoebe Fox, James McArdle, Pip Torrens, Nina Sosanya, Archie, and Nick Mohammed. The series premiered on HBO and HBO Max on October 1. It is streaming in India on JioHotstar.

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