The Source Magazine was on the red carpet for the New York Premiere of Universal Pictures’ “Lone Survivor” and we had the opportunity to interview some of the cast. Check out what they had to say about working on Director Peter Berg’s latest film out December 25.
Film Synopsis: Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, Lone Survivor tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative who are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan. Faced with an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war. As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and resilience as they stay in the fight to the finish.
Mark Wahlberg plays Marcus Luttrell in the film.
Q: How did you get involved with “Lone Survivor”?
Wahlberg: Pete called me, he told me…I hadn’t read the book, but he told me he wanted to make the movie, he wanted to make it with me, he already adapted the screenplay. So I read it, I said absolutely, but I didn’t want to read the book…it’s one of those things where you can’t cram everything from the book in the movie, it’s not possible, so I wanted to wait until after to read it. But I thought he did a great job with the screenplay and then obviously meeting Marcus for the first time I knew that we were taking part in something really special.
Alexander Ludwig plays Shane Patton in the film.
Q: How did you get involved with “Lone Survivor”?
Ludwig: My agent called me while I was filming “Grown Ups 2″ and he said they have this great movie that’s a great book to be made into a movie, and that I had to put myself on tape for it. One of the scenes was the Napoleon Dynamite dance because as a rookie, as a Navy SEAL, they make you do dances and they haze you. So my little sister, who’s 13, taught me how to do the dance. And I still thank her for being here today. Because she’s the reason I got this part.
Q: Because of her knowing the Napoleon Dynamite dance?
Ludwig: Because of her knowing the Napoleon Dynamite dance. Exactly.
Q: What was it like working with Peter on the movie?
Ludwig: It was incredible. He put his heart and soul into this project. He’s been working on this for so long and everyday you came to set and you just had this overbearing need to prove that you should be there to Marcus and to Pete because those guys have put in so much effort on being able to tell this story because it’s a story that needs to be told.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about your character in the movie?
Ludwig: Yeah, Shane Patton is the youngest Navy SEAL in the group of guys. He plays Marcus Luttrell’s, the character that’s played by Mark Wahlberg, his kind-of younger brother. Not by blood, but he looks up to Marcus like an older brother and he…he’s his apprentice, he wants to be doing what Mark Wahlberg’s character is doing.
Q: Can you talk about the filming process? Was it a grueling process having to go out there day in and day out?
Ludwig: The only really grueling thing about that was the stress put on you wanting to do the absolute best and really be able to do something right for the families.
Q: Can you talk about working with Mark Wahlberg?
Ludwig: Yeah he’ was an incredible mentor to me and he’s one of my idols and it’s just a huge honor to be a part of it.
Q: Do you have anything coming up in the future?
Ludwig: Yeah I did a TV show called “Vikings” for four months that premieres in February. And I started a movie (“When The Game Stands Tall”) with Jim Caviezel and Michael Chiklis. That’ll be coming out September. And I did a movie (“Final Girl”) with Abigail Breslin and it’ll be coming out in film festivals and whatnot.
Eric Bana plays Lt. Cmdr. Erik S. Kristensen.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about your character in the movie?
Bana: I play Cmdr. Erik Kristensen who’s the commander of Operation Redwing and unfortunately was onboard the Chinook helicopter which came down.
Q: How did you get involved with “Lone Survivor”?
Bana: I’ve known Pete a long time, the director, and I’ve read the book actually, oddly enough, twice before he called me up just by coincidence. So I was very familiar with the subject matter and the story and was really thrilled to get the chance to be involved and finally meet Marcus and get to know him and call him a friend so it was really special.
Q: Can you talk about the experience of working with Peter on the movie?
Bana: You know, as good as it gets. Incredibly well prepared, amazing respect for the subject matter, spontaneous, energetic, just fantastic.
Q: Can you talk about what it was like working with Mark Wahlberg and acting alongside him?
Bana: Well unfortunately I only had one scene with Mark but I wish I would have had a lot more so yeah. I didn’t have a lot with Mark but it’s great that he got the film up and going and we’re all indebted to him.
Q: Anything coming up in the future?
Bana: Yes, a Scott Derrickson movie, “Beware the Night.” Which I shot here this year in the Bronx. I was here all summer shooting that so it comes out in July. It’s really scary and I’m very excited.
Sammy Shiek plays Taraq.
Q: How did you get involved with “Lone Survivor”?
Shiek: I auditioned.
Q: What was the audition process like?
Shiek: It was actually interesting because they wanted everybody to come in speaking the language of the mountains which is Pashto and if you ask any Afghani what they speak they’ll be like the version of Farsi so nobody knew Pashto. So there I am for two days trying to find someone to speak it and I ended up finding a friend who’s from Afghanistan who hooked me up with his uncle who lives in Kabul so I got on and Skyped with him for two hours and had him translate it for me and record it and I memorized it for the audition
Q: What was it like working with Peter Berg on the movie?
Shiek: Peter’s the best man. Peter’s one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with. Just because he’s an actor’s director…I don’t want to say he knows the process but he kind of knows how to tell you to do things without being harsh.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your character?
Shiek: I play Taraq, the second hand man to the guy they’re following so they’re going to capture a guy and then once my character knows he starts hunting them down through the whole film.
Q: Can you talk about what the filming process was like? Was it a grueling experience?
Shiek: It was pretty tough, yeah. The terrain was rough, the weather was very, very extreme. We started at 5:00 in the morning where it’s super cold and then around noon it’s 80 degrees so yeah. But it was fun, everybody on the set was really interesting. We made a lot of friends.
Q: The film has a great cast, what was it like working with Mark and the rest of them?
Shiek: I worked mostly with Mark but I got to meet everybody else because we were hanging out on the set and Mark is really cool. He’s one of the coolest cats around. Unlike what I thought he would be. It was a good surprise.
Q: Do you have anything coming up in the future?
Shiek: I have a TV show that’s on FX, a pilot that we just shot and we’re gonna shoot the rest of the series. It’s called “Tyrant.” David Yates is directing it so I’m pumped.
Ali Suliman plays Gulab,
Q: How did you get involved with “Lone Survivor”?
Suliman: Well, I worked with Peter Berg, the director, for “The Kingdom” movie, and he gave me the book, I remember when he was working on “Hancock,” during that. I went there and visited him and he tells me that he’s gonna make this movie. It was a long time ago.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about your character?
Suliman: Yeah, I play the character of Gulab, an Afghani guy who met with Marcus, the character played by Mark Wahlberg, and saved him…his life. It was like he needs helps and he took him to his village and he sacrificed his village and his life for saving his survivor.
Q: So you worked with Peter Berg before, what was it like working with him on this project?
Suliman: You know, it’s always surprising working with this guy. He’s totally amazing and he’s creative all the time and looking for very different subjects to give to American audiences. Working with him is always challenging, you know, me as an actor, all the time like, when I prepare myself at home to be ready on set, all the time he says to you…he can kind of taste that you are not ready, that you are not that confident, so all the times he’ll throw you into the scene without any help, you know, and sometimes in the middle of the scene he throws some words he needs you to say and so you’re always unsure of what comes next. You don’t know where you are, so he always makes you want more and more and more.
Q: Can you talk about what it was like working with Mark Wahlberg?
Suliman: Oh it’s really funny…it’s funny and joy and unique and he’s a really great, great actor. He’s so funny, I loved working with him.
Q: Do you have anything coming up in the future?
Suliman: Yeah I have six movies coming out, foreign films.” The Attack,” “Under the Same Sun” is going to come here also. “The Attack” was released by Cohen Media. “Mars at Sunrise,” “Inheritance”…yeah.
-Joshua Kaye
