The film is about this image, and the soldiers in it
This photograph is the most reproduced image in history. It is six US Marines raising a flag on Mount Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima. It was taken on February 23rd 1945, on the 5th day of fighting in the battle of Iwo Jima,
WWII.
Letter from Stark Stark Sands takes time
out of his busy schedule to keep his fans updated on his latest filming.
Well, wow.... A lot has happened, so
I've got a lot of explaining to do. If you read the main page, you know that I
have been working on Clint Eastwood's latest film, "Flags of our Fathers." But I
have to start way before that....
Remember "Primal Scream"? That horror film from this summer. Well, I'll start with that. In March of this year, I was cast in "Primal Scream," to shoot for 6 weeks in Canada with a start date of June 13th. Well, on June 12th they called and let me know that they had run into some financial trouble, and that the shooting would be postponed for anywhere between a few weeks and a few months. I felt terrible for them, because they had spent months of time in preproduction, building sets and working on special effects, etc. And for me, it was back to the drawing board...
So I started auditioning for stuff again, and among the many opportunities was this Clint Eastwood film.
I went in for it the last week of June, and didn't hear back, so I assumed it wasn't going my way, which was fine-- I was just excited that I got to audition for one of his movies. Then, 4 weeks later, I got a callback. (by the way, that's a really long time, callbacks are usually within days) So when I got back in the room I thanked the casting director for having me back and she says, "Listen, Clint loved your tape. He thinks you're great," and I just about freaked out. Anyway, I did the callback and walked out thinking, "Hey, Clint Eastwood has seen me act and thought it was good!" and so it didn't even matter if I got the part at that point. A week later they offered me the job, and 5 days after that I was in Iceland. Ridiculous.
The film is about this image, and the soldiers in it
This photograph is the most reproduced image in history. It is six US Marines raising a flag on Mount Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima. It was taken on February 23rd 1945, on the 5th day of fighting in the battle of Iwo Jima, WWII. The story behind the photograph is fascinating. It caused a sensation in America, and the US Government decided to pull these marines from the fighting, bring them back to America to put them on a Bond Tour, to raise more money for the war effort. By the time they made this decision, three of the six men in the photo were dead. So the three remaining marines were pulled from the battle, against their will, and hailed as "heroes" upon their arrival in the US. They didn't think they were "heroes". They were just the guys who raised a dumb pole. Yeah, the picture was good, but the real heroes were still on the island. Anyway, I could go on forever, but then you would know the whole movie.
The script is based on a book of the same title, by John Bradley, who is the son of one of the flagraisers. I am playing one of the marines in the platoon with the flagraisers. The cast is great, check out the full list on www.imdb.com. My character's name is Walter Gust. I live though the whole battle, and there is actually going to be a present-day segment of the film where an 80-year-old man will play me as an old man! So cool. Anyway, it's not a huge part, but it's not tiny either. I am just so thrilled and honored to be given the opportunity to do this.
I was in Iceland for 5 weeks, and now we are shooting in LA. I have one more week on the project, and then I am done. What an experience. I will put some photos on the website when I get the OK from production.
As for "Primal Scream," I haven't heard anything in a while. I hope it still happens, because it was a great project. I'll keep you posted.
I also want to say that the new site looks amazing... Thanks to John and Karen for making all the great improvements. Ok, that's it for now. I will get working on these "Ask Stark" questions now, it's been too long. Sorry!
-Stark