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The idea that both a film and a book could be made about waiting and boredom, and make them entertaining, was pretty extraordinary.
I thought I was a long shot, but this was a role I was going to fight for.
My character's the one that kind of initiates these sexual encounters, which to me was, like, totally foreign.
I grew up in a family where many of our close friends were gay couples. As well as that, every man goes through a period of thinking they're attracted to another guy.
I'm at a period in my life when I'm figuring out my idea of who I am and what I want and how to hold onto love -- all that big stuff. And I'm starting to realize that it can happen at any age. I know people who are in their 50s who are figuring out what they want and who they are, and I think it's great. It's like you're always approaching life as a beginner.
We were talking about the kissing in the movie just recently. Clearly, it's pretty challenging material, but Ang said two men herding sheep was far more sexual than two men having sex on screen.
And as an actor, you can go to those places of rage and aggression and feel those feelings, and have so much fun doing it. I think that's also part of what the armed forces harnesses. Every day, I woke up excited to go to work, even with an hour's sleep sometimes.
For some reason, ... I just got so angry that I had chipped my tooth ... and just started hitting him and we didn't talk for a month after that.
It was at a point where I realized that like I had told Sam before we started 'I'll throw up in the sand for you. I'm gonna do anything I can for you,' but I never thought I would chip off my tooth for him. That's permanent.
I had a lot of people saying to me, to my surprise, thank you for making it.
If, for some reason, you could... wanna be with me heart and soul, I'll be waiting for you at 5pm outside Chunky Cheese - The Good Girl
Ang was great ... because he would set up situations and then let me and Heath decide what to do within the space Ang created.
I have a friend who is in Iraq right now and is doing a lot of good over there, restoring schools and helping democracy in a way. Do I agree with the administration and their intentions behind this war? I don't know; I don't think so. But I can't do anything but support wholeheartedly, and actually look up to, these soldiers in a way that I never did before I made this movie.
For me, it was hard in a different way than with Heath. Because I think Heath was kind of constantly being pushed back by Ang, pushed back into his skin, and he wanted to come out. I had heard all these stories from actors who had warned me that after the first day of work, Ang said, 'You'll get better.' So I was waiting for that. And the first day of work he walked out to me and said, 'Great job.' And I was like, 'Uh-oh, that's not good.
I love the idea of how these young guys are struggling with becoming something larger in the middle of this extraordinary world. Some of the guys feel like they've just reached heaven. Some feel like they just walked into hell.
I'm going to continue doing what I want to do. And if it means I want to go and make a big movie, if it has something to say, I will want to make it. I don't want to spend my life wasting my time. If it's a big movie, I want to do it. If it's a small movie, I want to do it.
This means even more to me socially than artistically. It's just a pleasure to be a part of this movie and I can't even believe I've got this for it.
That was so scary, the last scene Heath and I shot together. We finally get to say to each other what we want to say, and I was really nervous because there were so many emotions, and both men have been holding so much back. Luckily, the dialogue is so great that it worked out.
It's a wonderful love story -- a freaky, awesome ride with crazy characters.
If it does shed light on the idea that there's real love involved ... it's great. When two people love each other, they love each other. And people should hold on to it as hard as they can, whether it's homosexual or heterosexual.
We made out, and they had a baby.
It's funny to me that people find other people getting coffee really interesting, or walking their dog in the dog park.
I thought Heath had broken my nose while we were filming that scene. Both Michelle and Ang kept insisting the kiss had to be more fierce, more intense, more passionate, so Heath pushed me against the wall and came in really hard for the kiss.
I'm like, 'What world am I living in?' Aren't movies made to have something to say? Why make a movie if you don't have something to say? What are you doing it for? Are you doing it because you want to make a lot of money?
Crazy people don't sit around wondering if they're nuts.
The best thing that I got was rehearsing with my father. It was always about the process of figuring things out, and trying something new, and having another take on something and keeping it alive.
The sheep were interesting. They were the easiest thing. They just naturally herd, and they are naturally stupid.
I wouldn't call it a western, ... I would call it a love story that happens to take place in the West.
There's inevitably a lot of talk about things like that.
As well as that, every man goes through a period of thinking they're attracted to another guy.
If you're going to spend seven months of your life - for me seven months, for Roland Emmerich, 3, 4, 5 years of his life - doing something, I think you have to have something to say.
As an actor, it's a constant question of whether I will ever get hired again ... (but) this idea is so important, and if that meant for a couple of takes I was going to have to make out with some guy, then so be it.
I promise that, one day, everything's going to be better for you.
I doubt that means actors are going to be stampeding to play gay cowboys or even gay roles. But they'll be looking for material as honest and powerful as this film offers.
But obviously, it means a hundred million things to other people. It's one big question. So, naturally, people have a lot of answers.
I wanna star in this.
When I was in 'Jarhead,' I felt really good about my body, really confident.
Ang Lee is fierce in his timidity, his humbleness and his respect for everyone around him. He's frustrating and so damn wise.
It was really the most beautiful love story I had ever read, and I couldn't not do it.
Usually, the action's moving so fast, you don't get the opportunity to see the psychology, really.
You know, it's flattering when there's a rumor that says I'm bisexual. It means I can play more kinds of roles. I'm open to whatever people want to call me. I've never really been attracted to men sexually, but I don't think I would be afraid of it if it happened.
I grew up in L.A., so the idea of same-sex relationships is hardly foreign to me. I think there comes a time when everyone asks himself about his sexuality. That doesn't mean you experiment, but you definitely think about your preferences.
There have been times when I've been working with women and they just said, 'Hey, I've faked it before. I can fake it again.
I think something more formulaic was expected. But this movie is not just about the experience of a soldier, but also of a human being. We live in a world that is not always full of action.
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