Now playing in theaters is director Peter Berg’s (The RundownThe Kingdom) adaptation of the true-life memoir of Marcus Luttrell, Lone Survivor.  The powerful film tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission who try to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative, but are ambushed by enemy forces in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan.  The film stars Mark WahlbergTaylor KitschEmile HirschBen FosterEric BanaAlexander LudwigAli Suliman, and Rohan Chand.  For more on the film, here’s the latest trailer.

At the New York City press day, I landed an exclusive video interview with Emile Hirsch.  He talked about the challenges of making the film, the honor of portraying one of the Navy SEALs, the mood on set while they were filming, what Peter Berg made him do to land the role, the long gun fight sequence, upcoming projects, what he's going to do to play John Belushi, and more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

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Emile Hirsch Time Index:

  • :21 – What it means to be involved in a film like this and the honor of getting to portray one of the Navy SEALs.
  • 1:55 – Talks about how the film is apolitical and focuses on the brave work that the SEALs do every day.  “It’s about human beings doing their jobs.”
  • 3:24 – Talks about filming the 40-minute gunfight, which lasted three and a half hours in real life.  Says Marcus Luttrell sat down with them and went over what happened on the mountain beat-by-beat.
  • 5:31 – The mood on set while they were filming.  Says during the battle scenes it was a much more serious environment on set.  Talks about having a bunch of Navy SEALs on the set.
  • 7:06 – His physical training process.  Says Peter Berg’s was initially skeptical about how Hirsch would physically fit the role and made him train extensively before he gave him the part.
  • 10:07 – How many takes of each scene did Berg shoot?  Says it was a pretty fast tempo.
  • 11:00 – Talks about filming one particular scene that really hit home.
  • 12:06 – Upcoming projects. Talks about a project with Gavin Wiesen that he’s possibly trying to make before the Belushi film.
  • 12:58 – Talks about playing John Belushi.  Says he’s ruminating on it right now.

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