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CraveOnline: What made you want to play Brandon King?

Ryan Phillippe: For me it always starts with the script. I think without that, there's nowhere to go. I thought it was really beautifully and honestly written. I loved the fact that it was about the soldiers, from the soldiers' perspective. It wasn't bogged down by an agenda politically and it wasn't telling you how to think or feel about the situation we're in as a country. It was more: This is the human plight of the soldier and what they're going through and something that's very relevant because it's happening now and I'm sure last week there were people stop lossed, and next week there [will be]. I think that's also what separates us from some of the other Iraq themed films that have come before us. Those did seem to have sort of been telling you something or preaching. I think that's insulting, the idea of Hollywood doing that. I don't think Hollywood needs to tell people how to think or feel about an issue if you present it and allow the individual to make up their mind. Ours is about the soldier and that's it.

CraveOnline: On the lighter side, do women dig uniforms?

Ryan Phillippe: Yeah, maybe it's just that iconic association, the reaction that it conjures up.

CraveOnline: Did you meet anyone who's been stop lossed?

Ryan Phillippe: Yeah, I talked to a soldier's wife, the wife of a stop lossed soldier. The other thing is, that hasn't happened at the time we start the film and I think more of our time spent with the soldiers was getting to know who they are, what motivates them, what it's like to be over there and it wasn't really about the procedural stuff of what was going to happen to me in the film. Hopefully I'll get to meet some people as we go with screenings and stuff across the country. I also don't think a lot of those guys are that forthcoming or want to be found out.

CraveOnline: Did you know about this policy before the movie?

Ryan Phillippe: I had a vague sense just from things. I'd seen one or two little newspaper, nightly news, Nightline type thing. I think it's intentionally kept quiet-ish. I don't think it's a very popular policy. I think that's why we don't hear much about it but I think that's going to change too, not because of the film but because the longer we stay there, the more difficult it's going to be to get people to want to go there.

CraveOnline: Did you go right from Flags of our Fathers to this?

Ryan Phillippe: No, I did Breach in between the two, but basically the three in a row. I'm ready to get out of uniform and not work for the government. I think I'm kind of over that for a bit.

CraveOnline: Do you feel you never need to go through military training again?

Ryan Phillippe: You know, I actually love that, man. There's that part of me, the athlete part of me that loves the physical challenge of it. I think Chann and I were like that, the other guys maybe a little less so, but we showed up ready to be soldiers and ready to lead. We would help those guys and we would be the one pushing them and also instructing them. So I kind of get into that stuff, and also so many times as an actor you feel like such a softie. It's kind of cool to be out there with a weapon and running around playing war, doing the fight scenes. It kind of legitimized you a little bit more after the makeup trailer.

CraveOnline: What did you relate to most about Brandon?

Ryan Phillippe: I don't know, I guess I related to the idea of Brandon as the leader of the soldiers that was not very afraid of very much. I think he's probably a guy who's pretty confident in his abilities to kind of keep a level head through distress and that. I think he's probably a better guy than me in terms of always doing the right thing, kind of having that- - I don't know, just very straightforward. And then I think all of that is compromised by the situation he finds himself in. I look less to what I relate to in a character, because then you kind of get into judgments. It's kind of really just figuring out how this person would get through this situation.