Posted on 10/19/2006 8:30:57 AM PDT by Valin
It is Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry”-esque directing approach - not the star-studded cast - that “Flags of Our Fathers” actor Barry Pepper credits for the oh-so-real on-screen re-enactment of World War II’s bloody Battle of Iwo Jima.
“Eastwood didn’t rehearse anything,” Sgt. Michael Strank’s alter-ego told the Track. “So we didn’t know when these massive explosions were going to be sending a ton of sand in the air or where the weapons were going to be fired.”
Battered from a blast, the startled stars would voice their surprise to Eastwood after a take. But Pepper said the Oscar winner would “just smile and say, ‘Well your look was accordingly perfect.’ ”
“That was exactly what he had in mind to get these incredibly accurate emotions of these young, 18- or 19-year-old kids scared and out of their element,” said Pepper, who also appeared in “Saving Private Ryan.”
And if an actor sustained an injury during a scene, Pepper said you had to bite the bullet and get stitched up later.
“He doesn’t wait for anybody to have their actor weeny moment,” the war movie veteran laughed. “He just expects that you are a mature actor and you can get through the film. If you don’t, then you are just left in the dust because he can pretty much take you or leave you. He’ll shoot the movie without you!”
Pepper witnessed Eastwood’s tough love first-hand when a “squib-hit” blew up in his face, bloodying his lip.
“A medic came up to me after the shot and told me I had to go to the hospital,” he recalled. “But I went up to Eastwood and said, ‘I’m not leaving because I know you - and you’ll shoot the day without me! I won’t be in the movie!’ He laughed and said, ‘Good, because it’s a long way from your heart.’ ”
Then the 76-year-old icon reached over and plucked a 1-inch copper wire that had piercedPepper’s lip adding, “But, you might want to take this out first.”
Yikes! Was Eastwood channeling Gen. Patton???
“Flags of Our Fathers” tells the story of the six men who raised the second flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach portray the three survivors who are shipped back home and whisked off on a propaganda tour to raise money for the war effort.
“Flags of Our Fathers” opens in theaters tomorrow.
I had to put up with celebrities such as the incredibly spoiled "JLo" when she came to Germany.
She had a tantrum because all the furniture in her hotel suite was not virgin white - as she had demanded. We also provided Evian water, but it was cold, and not at "room temperature." She threw the bottle of water at the wall.
If you are making a war movie, then make one. Kudos to the director for not babying the actors.
McCain is typing up the Senate Bill to prohibit this kind of torture atrocity, as we read.
That's the sort of attitude that leads to deaths like those on the set of Twilight Zone The Movie.
Werner Herzog does some foolish things on the set but he takes the same risks himself.
Hong Kong films had death defying stunts in them because the film industry there and audiences expected them. It's why Jackie Chan's American films pale in comparison. Jackie took a very bad fall in HK and the cameraman's first thought was to save the camera, not the lead actor.
Clint Eastwood's next film is supposed to be Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. Think he'll be taking the same risks?
Ping (I'm planning to see it Tuesday)
LOL!
I read the book and had already planned to go see this. Now I find out Barry Pepper's in it? BONUS!
"Hey, ya pansy! Can't take a little napalm burn? Sheesh! Get back in the cave!"
Gunnery Sgt. Highway was just teaching them to improvise, adapt and overcome.
I heard there is a Japanese Director on board and Eastwood's role will be "co-director" - correct?
If that is the case, who knows.
Great director, expecting a wonderful movie.
If you read the book you'll find out that Bradley's best friend was captured by the Japanese. Knowing they were going to lose they cut off his balls, stuffed them in his mouth, and left him to bleed to death to be later found by Bradley. Is that the perspective of which you were thinking? I hope they put that part in the movie.
I seem to remember that before they began shooting Saving Private Ryan they put Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, and all the rest of the actors in the squad through a two week boot-camp-like deal where they were living in the mud, sleeping in the rain, eating bad food, and going through all the stuff soldiers in France were forced to go through. Supposedly about half way through, just about all the younger ones were fed up and went to Hanks to see if he could do something about it. Hanks basically said, "Everyone who wants to end it now raise their hand" and they all raised their hand. Then Hanks said, "Opposed" and raised his hand. Then he said "Motion defeated" and went back to work.
"Battered from a blast, the startled stars would voice their surprise to Eastwood after a take"
bet that beach smelled bad
I'd never seen nor heard of him until he played the praying sniper in Saving Private Ryan.
Wish I'd seen that. I first noticed him in SPR as well. That movie kick started the careers of quite a few actors.
Seriesly? I was hoping for something from the European Theater that no one's done an historically accurate movie about...
The Battle of the Bulge, for example...
How old is Mr. Pepper? How old are the other actors? I'm not suggesting that older actors can't play teenagers . . . just curious.
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