Ryan Phillippe talks politics, ‘Stop-Loss’ authenticity
Ashley Jacobs
Ryan Phillippe is one of those actors who is known best for the wrong reasons. By this, I mean for his 8-year marriage to ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, or to a lesser degree, for his provocative role in “Cruel Intentions.” But that film was released almost a decade ago (1999), and celebrity gossip is, well, celebrity...
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The Badger Herald
Ryan Phillippe is one of those actors who is known best for the wrong reasons. By this, I mean for his 8-year marriage to ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, or to a lesser degree, for his provocative role in “Cruel Intentions.”

But that film was released almost a decade ago (1999), and celebrity gossip is, well, celebrity gossip.

Since “Cruel Intentions,” Phillippe has worked with acclaimed writer/director Paul Haggis in 2004’s “Crash,” starred in Clint Eastwood’s evocative war drama “Flags of Our Fathers” in 2006 and matched wits with a slippery Chris Cooper in “Breach” (2007).

“I’ve been really lucky,” Phillippe said in a recent interview with The Badger Herald. “I’ve done so many films at my age [and have] worked with some really great people at great points in their career.”

The soft-spoken actor scarcely divulged any personal details about his everyday life during the interview beyond the distinct lack of blue jeans in his wardrobe. Rather, the chat geared toward his latest project, “Stop-Loss” — a war drama that, as Phillippe said, “pays a respect to the men and women who serve.”

In the film, Phillippe plays Sgt. Brandon King, a decorated war hero returning home to Texas from Iraq with his childhood friend, Steve (Channing Tatum, “Step Up”). As the soldiers try to settle back into civilian life, however, Brandon is soon ordered back to the combat zone by a measure called stop-loss. The policy, which has affected more than 80,000 men and women in uniform, allows the Army to involuntarily extend a soldier’s contract.

The film centers on the emotional toil Brandon experiences after this sneaky bit of government legislation is put into action, as he wrestles with the notion of returning to a war-torn country and turns to Steve’s fiancé (Abbie Cornish, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”) for help. Yet, despite the looming presence of Iraq, the film manages to carefully sidestep any message of anti-war sentiment. “Stop-Loss” is strictly about the soldiers, Phillippe explained, depicting a representative story of comradeship, courage and duty.

“I don’t want to make something that sounds preachy or that feels like it has an agenda,” Phillippe said, adding that audiences don’t need a movie to persuade them into one camp or another anyway. “People know how they feel about that already, you know?”

The film’s foundation was born in the mind of director Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry”), who was inspired by the home videos produced by her younger brother during his tour in Iraq. By incorporating some of this footage captured by real soldiers and setting it to pounding rock music, the film became part realist documentary, part Hollywood drama.

“I think that a lot of the best movies make you squirm a little bit or challenge your ideas about something or maybe, in some respects, change people’s ideas,” Phillippe said, and the actor embraces both the positive and negative reactions these controversial films often garner.

“With ‘Crash,’ I found that people either literally loved it or hated it — like hated it with a passion,” Phillippe said. “And I don’t mind that because it was of interest to a lot of people and it was something you hadn’t really seen in a while.”

Comparing “Stop-Loss” to “Flags of Our Fathers,” Phillippe stressed how World War II was a much different war, fought for very different reasons — and one which he would have signed up for. Being a vocal supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama, the actor was not shy to express his own opinions on the current conflict in Iraq.

“I want this war to end,” Phillippe said. “I feel like it’s not what we were led to believe it was about … I’m pretty excited about the idea of a president who is going to do something with this situation.” Phillippe quoted the age of the average enlisted man or woman as around 23- to 24-years-old, saying that the fact that this war is going on right now and affecting young people is one of the most important points of the film. “I think the idea that this is happening to those people and their family and their girlfriends and their husbands means something,” he said.

In the end, Phillippe said that whatever reason people choose to see “Stop-Loss” — be it the A-list cast, the poignant story or simply out of boredom — is fine with him.

Audiences can see Phillippe in his blue jeans when “Stop-Loss” hits theaters Friday.