The PACIFIC

STARTS 5^TH APRIL 2010 AT 9pm ON SKY MOVIES PREMiERE HD

Executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman are the creative team behind the Emmy-winning 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Clearly a winning combination. They’re back with another epic war television series. The Pacific has all been filmed using HD and special attention has been given to it to give it a Hollywood theatrical feel.

I’m loving that the series will be shown on Sky Movies Premiere HD, no averts and so it will be viewed in all its glory!

The Plot:

On 8^th December 1941, just over 24 hours after the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbour, Congress issued a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan.  For a decade, tensions had been mounting between Japan and the US, as the Japanese expanded their conquest of a large region including much of China and Southeast Asia.  As a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the United States officially entered World War II, already in its third year of being waged by countries of the Allied powers, including the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Canada and Australia, against the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy.

Practically overnight, military recruiting offices across the United States were jammed, as thousands of Americans rushed to enlist in the armed forces.  Many of those young men chose to join the Marine Corps, which saw its ranks more than triple in the six months following Pearl Harbour.

The mini-series follows them from their first battle with the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the r  The Pacific tracks the three entwined, real-life journeys of Leckie, Sledge and Basilone and their fellow Marines over the vast landscape of the Pacific in World War II.  Rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa, and finally to their triumphant but uneasy return home after V-J Day.

Interviews:

James Badge Dale (plays PFC Robert Leckie)

How did you get into the role?

I got a phone call from HBO one day -it had been a long audition process that lasted about six months. I got a phone call saying, “You wanna come to Australia”. And I think that was a life-changer right there. We’re talking about a year of production in Australia. And y’know, Robert Leckie, he wrote a lot. He wrote a memoir called Helmet For My Pillow, about his time in the Pacific theater. He also wrote a book of short stories or vignettes about his childhood growing up in a household of five older sister. It was just invaluable source material to be able to sit down and be able to read about your character, to be able to read about his childhood, and these stories that he looked back on as real formative stories of him as a man. I also had the pleasure of spending time with his wife Vera Leckie and his daughter Joan Leckie and they would sit me down and feed me lunch and tell stories.

Did you approach this character differently because he was a real person?

It’s different. It’s different. Approaching him because he was a real man who wrote about this. This is a real story and his words, his version of events, he was there. And meeting his family… where is that line between honouring him and playing this man and then also creating your own character, so normally the creation happens within me. Through a writer and through a director, y’know, we can all come to a consensus, but this is a different situation. It was a tight rope act. Finding yourself in situations where you say, “Ok, would he have done this?”. Did Robert do this, would he have done this or what is right for the story? Do I need to take some kind of creative license here to help the story along?

How did you build up your relationship with the other actors? Did boot camp help?

Absolutely. I think you spend nine days out in the mud together, y’know, you can get pretty close. Or you can be at each others throats. But they cast very well. All of us seemed to be of like mind and heart. Everybody treated the project with a lot of respect. It’s a special experience to be together for that long and to do things together for that long. You grow a bond. And we all got along very well from the outset.

What kind of impact do you think The Pacific will have on your career?

Um, y’know, probably serving French fries at drive-thrus hugely. Or go back to changing oil in people’s cars man. I don’t know. I’ve been lucky enough to work in this business for a little while and what I’ve learned is that expectations will kill you. It was such an honour and a privilege to play this role and to be a part of this. I feel like I’ve reaped all the benefits I can ask for, y’know? And if someone can connect with the story, then my job is done. If a veteran can look at me and say, “Listen, I think you guys did a good job and that’s what it was like. You reminded me of a certain time”. Or if we can get the story right.

What have you learned from your time on The Pacific?

Working on The Pacific I learned a lot about breaking barriers. I learned a lot about myself and what type of strength I have, or don’t have. If you asked me could I do it again or would I do it again, I don’t know if I could do it again. (Looks off wistfully) That’s a hard question. Can we move on to the next question?

How do you think The Pacific will be received and why do you think people should watch it?

(Smiles) Why should we see The Pacific? I hope people will watch The Pacific and learn a little bit more about themselves and a little bit more about history – American history and world history. But I think more importantly, our show is about price. Our show is about men who went through a certain circumstance that is part of human nature, which I believe nobody should have to go through, but it is part of human nature and it happens in each generation. But how did they get through it? How did they get through it? What price did they pay?

Do you think there’s now less of a difference between the quality of television shows and films?

Absolutely, I think that’s down to a number of things but I think the gap between television and film has gotten a lot smaller and what’s important is a good project is a good project and a good story is a good story. Good storytellers are good storytellers, so whether the medium is television or the medium is a movie theatre, it doesn’t matter as long as you take care. As long as you care about what you do and you take care with it.

—————————

Joe Mazzello (plays Eugene Sledge)

How important was it for you to build up a bond with the other actors in order to make The Pacific more believable?

It was crucial. It was crucial more just to be able to survive the experience with your sanity. Because it was absolutely the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Hands down, across the board. Every single day was a battle, no pun intended. But the guys that I worked with, I kind of  felt like, boy, it’s going to be a lot of actors, a lot of type A personalities, y’know, it was going to be rough, there were going to be fights I felt like. But amazingly we got along so well. We spent every waking moment together, and I’m so happy to be able to say that truthfully. Because I have to say it no matter what. But I really believe it because I’m still so close with all of them. I try to talk to every single one of them. It’s a big cast but everything was so relaxed and we laughed so much. It was great to be able to have that because we knew what we were about to go into was so difficult and so taxing on the mind and the body that if we didn’t laugh and we didn’t enjoy each other so much then I don’t know if we’d have been able to get through it.

How much did the locations and the costumes help you believe that you were actually in a battle in The Pacific?

Everything helps. The weaponry, the uniform, the locations, everything was so authentic from beginning to end that if there wasn’t a camera in your face then you would absolutely believe that you were about to get blown up and about to get shot. I can’t stress enough, it was so difficult, y’know, every single day was just a new challenge to get through. And you felt like you were living it day in, day out. But when you think about all that you did, going through the mud and the running, the explosions and the weapons, at the end of the day, it’s silly a bit, in comparison to what the real men went through, and so you always have that for a context whenever you think you’re big and bad and whatever because these guys really experienced this and it always puts it in perspective.

How much is this a story of heroism?

Oh, completely. It always strikes me when I think of World War II specifically, that these guys were just regular guys. Like, my grandfather served in the Pacific. He owned a deli for his entire life. There were mechanics and painters and electricians. These were not professional warriors, these were kids. And to think of what they went through and then for them to come home and so humbly just say, ‘We did what we had to do’” and then went on living their very humble lives. It just always strikes me and I can’t get that out of my mind that we asked so much of these people and we still do to this day. And it’s just so amazing what they’re able to go through. Of course they’re heroes., y’know, they saved the world.

Why do you think your character wanted to go to war?Was there a social pressure at the time?

Y’know, there wasn’t. For him anyway, I can’t speak for the general population, but for Sledge his great grandfather served in the Civil War, his father served in World War I. He came from a whole line of men who served their country and he wanted to go for that reason. He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to continue that lineage. And his father didn’t actually want him to go. Talk about pressure. There was pressure for him to not go, and he was kept out of the war at the beginning until he finally said, ‘I am going’. And I just feel like the men of that generation had that sense of patriotism and duty to their country. And he wanted to go and of course what he was met with was something that he could never imagine, as prepared as he was.

How do you think starring in The Pacific will alter your professional life?

Y’know I’ve been acting since I was a little kid. Five years old. I had a lot of success growing up and I kind of went away from it for a little while and did kind of the normal things, high school and SATs, the Prom and girls and college. Y’know, I wanted to do all that. I went to USC film school and learned about the other side of the camera. I graduated and just said, ‘Y’know, I’m not done with this yet’. I think acting is something that I am innately the best at, more so, I’d say, than the other things in my life. And I knew that I just wanted to keep doing and I was so fortunate to be able to be in such an amazing project and hopefully it will lead to good things for me. You never know.

How interesting is it for you to get lost in someone else’s life like this?

That’s why I do it. It’s about that moment where you lose yourself completely. And you make it real for you. You actually experience what’s happening and you can feel it. You feel yourself hitting that. It’s so rewarding because you almost kind of smile inside your own head knowing this is authentic, this is actually happening. It’s that rush that makes you want to do this job.

What about attending boot camp? Would you want to repeat it?

Never in my life. Never, ever, ever, ever (laughs). I think that’s the point though. I mean, it was so tough. I lost 12 pounds in ten days at boot camp, if that is any indication of how it is. I was kind of like, ‘C’mon, we’re a bunch of actors y’know’.  ‘You have to be up before 11 o’clock every morning, y’know. Fillet only once a week!’ I thought it was going to be easy. It was not. It was insanely challenging. We were in the middle of the jungle. Boy, I would never want to go through that again. I’m sure many people are happy to hear that.

How did you find working with many different directors on The Pacific?

Oh, it was really interesting because we had some days where we would be with three different directors in one day. And the entire tone of the set was different based on who the director was. Yeah, it was challenging because I’m there the whole ten episodes, from the beginning to the end. And I have to make sure that my character kind of follows a certain line. And so it’s a delicate balance between what the director wants you to do and your own feelings of how the character is supposed to go and the arc. And so I found it really interesting and I enjoyed it. It was kind of a challenge.

———————————–

Jon Seda (plays Sgt John Basilone)

Why did you want to be part of The Pacific? There must have been many actors of your generation that wanted to be in a Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg production?

I feel so honoured and humbled to just be a part of The Pacific. The importance of it. It’s not like any other series or any other series or any other film of that nature. It’s just different. It has a different meaning to it. For me it wasn’t about making a big career move or anything like that. For me it was just being able to be a part of that voice for all these men who sacrificed themselves to give us the freedom that we enjoy today. That was just crazy important for me.

Did the fact that you were playing a real person impact on the way you approached your character?

Well, for me I had the distinct honour to portray Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone and his home state is New Jersey and that’s where I grew up and so I felt even more of a sense of pride and responsibility to try and do the best I could or I would not be able to show up in New Jersey. So I just would hope and pray that I would even have an ounce of the same courage that John Basilone had. So, to let alone have a part in The Pacific, to portray John Basilone was just a humbling experience for me.

John Basilone was a hero but he didn’t realise it, in part because he was cut off from home and the news. Did this make him more interesting to play?

Right. I don’t think John Basilone himself would call himself a hero. I think he was doing what he was taught to do and what he loved to do, which was to be a Marine. And he loved his country and was willing to do whatever it took to help to preserve that freedom that we have. So, I don’t think he would call himself a hero. I think there are hero. I think as soon as they sign on to enlist, that’s a heroic act right there. So there’s many heroes of World War II and I think John would call many others heroes before he would call himself a hero.

Which are the qualities you like about the friendships you guys develop as characters? Because you live in a very extreme situation throughout The Pacific but there’s also time for friendships.

Well, y’know, all these men in the Pacific, it was their family. They all come from different parts of the United States and different parts of the world, but when they’re together, that’s their family and they laugh together, they joke together, they endure pain together, they have victory together. So that’s something from bootcamp for us. Captain Dale Dye and his NCOs, they made sure that we understood that and that was important for us because there’s no way that we would have been able to really bring out the reality of the camaraderie that these men had without going through something that simulated that as well.

How much does the realistic wardrobe and locations help your performance?

It was just incredible. Just from the sets to the wardrobe that we had and just the elements that they put us through, we really didn’t have to act. We were reacting. For example, there was a time in boot camp where a few of us got together and we paused and we were like, ‘What are we doing?’ Are we actually training to go fight somewhere? Or are we doing a show? What are we doing?’ And that’s when it was basically a change for all of us. We all realised how important this was and we were going to have to reach down deep to bring out something that we had never brought out before.

How difficult is it to find intelligent material like this out there?

Something like this comes along not enough as it should. Something like this, it’s a blessing and a gift and to be a part of it, that’s why it’s so important to me because this doesn’t come around that often. From the writing to the producing to all the aspects that it took. The hard work and the years before it tool to actually get to filming. It’s just incredible to be a part of.

How do you think appearing in The Pacific will change your career?

For me, as we grow in life, there’s different times in our lives where we have transitions. Where we are in life effects who you are as a person, let alone where you are career wise. For me, career wise, I can’t even think about that, but what I do know is that this was a defining moment for me as a person and it was a life changing experience, so for me this was, so far, as good as it’s gotten.

Why did you decide to be an actor?

I didn’t grow up wanting to be an actor. No one in my family is in the business. I grew up very sports oriented and had dreams of playing football. After I graduated high school I got into boxing and my dad is a big fight fan so I had some knowledge of boxing growing up and just found a passion for boxing and thought boxing was going to be my… I always dreamt that I was going to be famous. And I always dreamt that I was going to get a big house for my mom and take care of them. I just didn’t know that it was going to possibly be down an acting route. I thought I was going to be a boxing champion one day but for whatever reason this is the path that was presented to me and I’m vey proud and very fortunate to be here.

Have you found it difficult to keep going in this business?

Yeah, this business to me is kind of like the stock market, it’s up and down. You just have to stay strong and keep pushing through and don’t quit.

What would you say is the message of The Pacific?

I think the message of The Pacific is love your family, love your country. Don’t forget where we’ve all come from and don’t ever think that anything can stop us from being what we want to be.

What was the toughest moment on set?

It was definitely the toughest role that I’ve ever been a part of physically but also I think equally, or more so, mentally and spiritually it was a tougher challenge for me. I, for whatever reason, from the first day, I had found out about The Pacific. I felt like something in me was meant to be a part of it somehow. And I carried it throughout even until now and it’s still a little overwhelming when I think about it. But the challenge for me was more mentally and spiritually for me because the enormity of it was just a little overwhelming. It hit you at different times, y’know? You’d look around and look at the set and you’d almost feel like you were transported back in time and sometimes the reality would just overwhelm you. I think physically I was ok, it was more mentally.

—————————
Trailer

First Look

STARTS 5TH APRIL 2010 AT 9pm

ON SKY MOVIES PREMiERE HD

The Pacific Website