He’s just incredibly intelligent in terms of how he deals with actors so that was awesome. He’s always asking questions. It’s never like, ‘Okay, here’s what you need to do…’ It’s always, ‘Pete, you’ve just been in the desert six months, alright? What do you think you’d be going through if you hadn’t really done anything for six months? Alright, let’s shoot it.’ And that’s the information he gives you and it just fills you up. Then ‘bam’ you’re into the scene and it’s amazing what comes from that. But he lets you be the artist. He lets you interpret it. He just gives you information."
Peter Gail on the "Jarhead" Boot Camp: "Boot camp was super intense. We were out there for five days. I think I slept maybe four hours. And you know, you’re training all day. You’re just taking in a bunch of new information. You’re doing p.t. – physical training – in the morning for like an hour and then you’re just like with this group of guys. You feel if you’re away from them at all, immediately there’s this feeling like, ‘I’m missing out. Something’s wrong. I should be with them.’ That was one of the things that struck me right away.
We learned all about weapons and I’m the doc so I spent a lot of time with the medic that we had, the technical advisor who taught me all about what it would be like in the field. What kinds of things I would be doing and what medics did in Desert Storm to keep everyone running smooth."
Peter Gail Admits It was Tough to Say Good-Bye to His Fellow "Jarhead" Actors: "Absolutely. I mean, I think tonight [at the World Premiere] more than anything is about seeing all of my boys. We spent five months together out in the desert, 10-12 hour days, hot, Mexico... We came to near fistfights sometimes and then we were best of friends at other times so it’s just a fascinating, fascinating experience and a journey to go through with a group of people. But in the end of the day, I consider some of these guys to be my best friends. It was really unbelievable."
Did the Experience Change His Opinion of the Military? "Yes it did. I didn’t really have an opinion about Marines before I did this movie. I’m like, ‘Oh, great, they’re serving our country.’ But now every time I meet someone who is in the Marine Corps I feel like saying, ‘Thank you.’ I feel like saying, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing.'
You know, when you get over there it’s not about, you know, politics. It’s about the guy who’s right next to you and keeping him alive and you’re going to do whatever it takes. And that’s what it’s about. We glimpsed that a little bit and to do that was special. I think about what the guys are going through right now and what they went through in Desert Storm."
Peter Gail on How Audiences May Perceive "Jarhead:" "I think audiences are going to take away whatever they want. The fascinating thing about war films is certain people will see this movie and say it’s pro-military. It tells it how it is. Other people may say that’s anti-war so it’ll be fascinating to see how people will take it."
Peter Gail on the Book Versus the Movie: Gail said he read the book "Jarhead" by Anthony Swofford during the audition process. Gail feels the movie does a good job of following the tone of Swofford's work. "The movie and the book are about Anthony Swofford so I think definitely, in terms of the central character and who we go on this journey with, it’s the same."
Up Next for Peter Gail: "I’m going to be in a movie called 'The Guardian' directed by Andy Davis. We start shooting next month. It’s about rescue swimmers in the US Coast Guard so I’m kind of keeping it real. It’s got Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher so I’m really looking forward to that. I’m in hardcore swim training right now."
Gail said that prior to getting the shot at a role in "The Guardian" he wasn't much of a swimmer. "No, not really but I trained like crazy, even in the audition process, because we had to do a swim test for this movie. They wanted to see what you’re all about. And so I grew up playing sports, I’m kind of competitive a little bit so I brought that into the audition process and I think it paid off," said Gail.
Filming "The Guardian" in Louisiana: Because of Hurricane Katrina, work on "The Guardian" had to be rearranged. Gail explained, "We are shooting. We are going to shoot in Shreveport. They just moved it a few hours away. We’re going to shoot in Shreveport and I think we start December 1st. We’ve got to train all through November. It’s pretty intensive what we’re doing in the water right now."
Peter Gail, Brianne Davis, Laz Alonso and Jamie Martz Interview Video from the World Premiere of "Jarhead" - Play the Video
