If Ryan Phillippe wasn't an actor, he'd be "a ninja,", or at least that's what he said with a chuckle in his voice. "I really think about that sometimes." He laughed.
Ryan Phillippe (pronounced fill-uh-pee) is an actor from New Castle, Delaware who plays Sgt. Brandon Leonard King in this year's first war film Stop-Loss.
In a phone interview, Phillippe, who does not prefer to be called Mr. Phillippe because it "makes him feel old," isn't too worried about the film's box office acclaim: "I think firstly this film is really different from the rest of those [war films] in regards to dealing with the human side of coming home from war, and what happened to these guys as they try to kinda get back into their lives," he said.
According to Phillippe, "it's relevant to a slightly younger audience because most films that have come before, like Born on the Fourth of July and Deer Hunter were made in hindsight, fifteen years after the war; and this is happening now. The average age[s] of military [officers] are 23, and 24. There are guys who are staff sergeants at 22. This film is a little more personal, and they have this younger edge to it."
The film not only shows the effects of the Stop-Loss policy, but also shows the struggles Sgt. King is faced with in being enlisted in the U.S. military.
"To me, it's really about duty and about what he feels. The way he's always lived was very clear and very forward. He would abide by whatever system he elects to be a part of, and this idea of being forced back after you've fulfilled your obligation and contract compromises all those parts of him, and made it very easy to access him," Phillippe said.
"I've really spent a lot of time with the soldiers. There are things that we don't think about. There's so much that is kept from us as a public. We are actors. There's only so much that you can get, you know? There are some horrific pictures, things to prepare myself to just kinda have a glimpse into what it is they see."
The idea for Stop-Loss came from the real-life story of a solider named Harvey.
"Kim Pierce, our director's brother, was in the army and signed up after 9/11. He went over there and one of his best friends in his unit was a guy named Harvey, who really inspired the story. Harvey's wife had given birth while he was away on his second tour, and he was supposed to come home and have his wife and child, and they stop-lossed him. Kim IMed her brother out in Fallujah, and she would talk to him every day, and that's kinda where it started. The fact that it came from such a personal place made it easy to connect [to the character]."
Another reason the movie seems so human is because of the bond the actors formed during the shooting. The men spent 6 days, 14 hours at a time, in tents, enduring 106 degree weather in the desert. "We had a pretty diverse group of guys when you kind of look at it. We're all kind of varying ages and backgrounds and that. We had such a good time connecting and everyone was so unique that there was a lot of humor."
The movie is not supposed to be seen as anti-military or a war film, but as pro-military because of the way the guys bonded, the love and protection they feel.
"The ending of the film is legitimate and honest, and I'm proud of that aspect. I don't think there's an overriding message. I think she was really smart and careful about that, to tell a more human story."
Along with the satisfying feeling from the 113 minute film, Phillippe has other projects in the works. "I finished a movie this fall in London called Franklyn. The closest description I've ever heard is it's like Batman meets Magnolia. I'm doing a couple of stories I want to make myself as a writer/director."
Phillippe's plans for the film industry lay in the realm of dark comedies. "I love desperation and what can be funny about desperation, like true-crime comedy type of stuff."
See our review of Stop-Loss
Copyright 2008 Metropolitan Community College