Which Ride or Die actor portrayed Dick Best in the 2019 film Midway?

Ed Skrein portrayed Lieutenant Dick Best in the 2019 film Midway. Roland Emmerich’s war film casts Skrein as the U.S. Navy dive-bomber pilot whose actions became central to the American victory in the Battle of Midway.

The movie dramatizes the Pacific theater during World War II, beginning around the attack on Pearl Harbor and building toward the carrier battle fought from 4 to 7 June 1942. Best served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and participated in attacks against Japanese carriers.

The historical Richard “Dick” Best was a real Navy aviator and a skilled dive-bomber pilot. After Midway, his flying career ended when exposure to fumes from an oxygen canister contributed to tuberculosis; he retired from the Navy in 1944. The film compresses events and heightens character drama, so it should not be treated as a documentary account.

Skrein is also recognized for roles in Deadpool, Alita: Battle Angel, The Transporter Refueled, and Game of Thrones. Midway’s ensemble includes Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Mandy Moore, Nick Jonas, and Woody Harrelson.