On Inspiration:
“When 9/11 happened I had lived in New York for 15 years and when the World Trade Center was attacked it was really personal. I went to vigils. I wanted to explore the soldier’s experience. My little brother signed up to be in the war and I would [instant message] him in Kuwait and Iraq. His first leave home during Thanksgiving I walked in on him watching images on video with the song, ‘Let the Bodies Hit the Floor,’ (playing in the background). He was watching images that soldiers had shot and edited with music. It was a personal look at the war. If I was going to make a movie, it was going to have an unadulterated feel — the soldiers’ images and feelings.”
On Research:
“I paid for all the research myself because if I paid for it then no one could judge it. The guy who helped me was a military kid as well and came straight out of college. We went to Paris, Ill. and interviewed the families there.”
On Writing:
“I had a script, I developed a five-minute trailer with rock music and images and then I gave it to the producers. [My brother] didn’t want to be involved. But when I told him I was going to Iraq and that I had found a safe way there, he said, ‘No, it’s never safe.’”
On Plot:
“It’s a movie about camaraderie with brothers and family. It tells a story about a patriotic American who joins up for all the right reasons because he’s from a military family. Sergeant Leonard King was already in mind before the story. Stop-loss is unique to this war but it serves as a mechanism for the movie.”