www.moviefreak.com

Does that mean viewers of the films can expect characters and excerpts from each to appear in both versions? “I would think some, but there [isn’t] a lot of Japanese shots in [Flags of Our Fathers],” explained the actor. “That’s just really the way Iwo unfolded. It was just a subterranean death trap. [Soldiers] didn’t see the enemy for those 36 days. Very rarely did they see a live Japanese soldier and so [Clint] shot it that way consciously and that is why he shot Letters from Iwo Jima so you would be able to see the Japanese side of the story. I’m sure it will share some points [with Flags] but this [second film] will be an entirely unique storyline.”

“I think Clint found it fascinating; those two different perspectives. The Marines trained with more emphasis on survival where the Japanese trained with the thought that surrender was the ultimate humiliation. Survival really wasn’t a focus of their training.”

The intricacies of these two differing war epics aside, the mechanics of preparation and acting for the American version was what Pepper had to focus on. With Eastwood’s notoriously quick pace behind the camera, the actor new he’d have to be both on his toes and at the top of his game to make inroads with the director. “We knew going into [this] that there would be no formal rehearsal, no boot camp. We all came very prepared. [We] did as much research as we could do on our own, and obviously James Bradley’s book was incredible source material for all of us. You could have made ten films about it.”

“When we got [on set] we had maybe two or three days to get to know one another before we started the landing invasion and the battle sequences, so we really had to bond quickly as a group,” comments Pepper. “People really kind of fell into their roles. It just happened organically, which was nice because you never know what’s going to happen when you arrive in a situation like that. There are so many different methods and styles in which actors approach their work and so it can be pretty fragile, this ecosystem, at first as we don’t want to step on each other’s toes.

“But, you’ve got a tremendous amount of work to do. You’ve got to get along. We were just fortunate we had a great group of guys who were really excited about getting down to work.”

“We also knew by default we would have been left in the dust if we didn’t,” laughs the actor. “Clint just works so fast and he doesn’t spend any time holding hands and explaining motivations and this sort of thing. He just expects that he’s hired a thinking actor who can work their way through the film.”

That being the case, with Eastwood standing there overseeing everything there had to be memorable days on the set. “I remember one day,” says Pepper, “there was a series of explosions and machinegun fire; a very chaotic sequence we had to run with grenades and live weapons. I just was going through the pattern of it with him just to make sure that I didn’t do anything that would mess up the shot and he looked at me and said, ‘We’ve come this far let’s not screw it up by thinking.’ So you learn right away that this is his style and, after a while, you really learn to thrive on it. It’s electric.”

“Quite often on other films there is so much downtime and you over-rehearse things endlessly. It just kind of takes the energy from it. You have to get yourself back to that raw, organic place you were at before you ever thought about it. If you had just leapt into it like Clint asks you to you don’t ever think about it, you’re in the moment completely. It’s like John Huston used to work. Very minimalist. You soon realize how wonderful a way that is to work as an actor.”

But Clint isn’t the first major director Pepper has ever had the opportunity to work with. Spielberg, Spike Lee, Tony Scott, Frank Darabont and Tommy Lee Jones have all made films with the actor so one has to wonder if his experiences with Eastwood are in tune with those others. “Absolutely prototypical,” says Pepper with complete conviction. “The most courageous directors, I find, are that way. Steven was that way. So was Spike. So was Tony. And even Tommy Lee Jones, who I think is a tremendous director. They really understand the neurotic mind of the actor. That you can’t really approach [them] directly, that you have to couch everything in stories and jokes and interesting anecdotes.”

“It’s like planting a seed that latter blossoms and the actor feels like they came up with it themselves. It empowers the performance to feel organic, but really there have probably been years of thought that have gone into that approach. But they don’t ever reveal it to you, which is wonderful. Those men are all very intelligent, interesting people who have lived tremendously fascinating lives so they have lots to draw on. What’s nice is that they don’t overwhelm you with too much literal direction.”

As for the movie, the nature and definition of heroism lies at the very center of the epic moral tale Eastwood attempts to tell. Thanks to his prior work in Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers, Pepper already had his own definition, one which translated right into what the director was attempting. “I think I had a broader, more libertarian view of that definition,” states the actor. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet veterans and go speak on military bases and go meet these young men and women who are heading off for places like Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“You’re meeting them coming or going,” he explains, “or you’re sitting with veterans at dinners in Washington, Vietnam memorial dinners, and here’s a young army captain who has lost her arm in Iraq and she’s got a prosthetic. She’s just this lovely young woman who has dedicated her life to the military and was in an IED explosion. She was a star basketball player before she left. So you start to get this kind of background on these young people and feel for what they have sacrificed.”

“Then, of course, you turn on CNN and you see these families in Alaska expecting their loved ones home from [abroad] and they were supposed to be back months ago but their tour got extended. And there are kids at home. Young wives. Young mothers. Young husbands. And either they die before they can get back home or their tour gets extended for another five months.”

Pepper takes a breath before continuing, his passion for these families and soldiers filling the room. “So that really redefines your definition of ‘hero’ right away. You start to realize it’s not just anybody who saves a cat out of tree. Nowadays it seems like it has become this [all encompassing] term for anybody who does anything mildly generous.”

All seriousness aside, an actor almost has to feel like a kid in a candy store when walking onto the set of a massive WWII production like Flags of Our Fathers, right? “Not for this project or for We Were Soldiers, but when I first stepped onto the battlefield for Saving Private Ryan that was certainly in the air. I mean, it was like, ‘Wow! We’re playing soldier with Tom Hanks!’ But then you slowly start to realize this is a huge responsibility and while [you] enjoy it thoroughly there is [still] a lot of work to be done.”

“Being a part of a film like that you have to answer to a lot of questions and there are a lot of veterans who want to talk about it. It releases a lot of dialogue for people. Emotions. Even closure for a lot of veterans. You’re part of something much bigger than just playing soldier.”

Looking at the finished film, you can’t help but wonder if Eastwood isn’t so much making a WWII picture as he is making a commentary on the world right now. Not so, says Pepper. “What I know of Clint and his sort of libertarian point of view of the world is that he maintains he makes apolitical films. There is no political purpose or noble purpose behind it. What’s wonderful about film or stories like these is that everyone can take away what they like from it. It’s like the three blind men who go into the room with an elephant, they all come away with a different idea of what they’ve experienced.”

“But I do think there are very strong parallels; to the eternal nature of conflict. I think it is not difficult to draw parallels to what has happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the nature of the necessary illusion of conflict, of propaganda that is used has it has been forever [in war]. There are certainly reoccurring themes. You could probably take any conflict in history and do a film about it and draw parallels to what is happening today.”

“Yet, I think the themes [Clint] was more focused upon where themes of friendship and love and sacrifice, a more intimate human drama. He thought that was more entertaining and compelling than trying to draw parallels to how we’ve ended up geopolitically today.”