00:00Miles, my first question is for you.
00:02One of my favorite lines in the whole show
00:04comes in the first episode when they're at boot camp
00:07for one day, and your character is like,
00:09no, I didn't watch Full Metal Jacket.
00:10I watched the Golden Globes.
00:11Oh, I'm such a rose.
00:14Didn't you watch Full Metal Jacket, like I said?
00:16I was going to, and then there was a Golden Girls marathon on.
00:20I know.
00:21I'm such a rose.
00:23That told me so much about his character
00:25and how he saw himself.
00:26What did it tell you?
00:27And do you think he still thinks he's a rose
00:29by the end of the journey?
00:30I think the rose is in there,
00:33and I think that's sort of at his core.
00:36It's funny going into this.
00:38People keep asking, like, how did you train?
00:40How did you prepare before you went to film for boot camp?
00:43Like, literally, all I did was watch Golden Girls
00:46because I'm like, Cameron loves Golden Girls.
00:49He has no idea what boot camp is.
00:51So I'm like, I'll just watch Golden Girls,
00:53and that's what I did.
00:55I'm a Dorothy.
00:57I'm not a rose.
00:57Liam, I love the friendship
00:59between your characters, especially because in the 90s,
01:01there was such rampant homophobia.
01:03But Ray knows that Cameron is gay, doesn't mind.
01:06He's straight.
01:07There's no weirdness either.
01:08There's no, like, pining for the best friend.
01:10What did it mean for you guys to show
01:12that kind of really great platonic bromance?
01:15I mean, I think that was the first thing
01:17that grabbed my attention about the pilot
01:19when I got the script was, like, this really nuanced
01:22and tender and deep love that exists between these two men.
01:29But like you said, there's not this, like, coded longing
01:31that I think we're very used to in these types
01:33of relationships in most films and TV.
01:35And I think, ultimately, that lends, you know, a depth
01:40to the relationship because they're able to explore that love.
01:45They're able to grow up together.
01:46But, you know, I think that it shows that there is complications
01:49that come with that type of close platonic friendship, too.
01:52When you grow up together for so long,
01:54there's almost this, like, codependency between them
01:56at the beginning of the series.
01:57And ultimately, I think that is a more fruitful
02:00and rewarding storyline than just, like, one of them
02:03potentially having a crush on the other.
02:04Yeah.
02:05Max, I was really struck when Sullivan enters the barracks
02:07and he immediately zeroes in on camera and says,
02:10there's an enemy, like, inside you.
02:16What is your name, recruit?
02:20Sir, recruit, Cope, sir.
02:22Some of you know that you should never have stepped foot
02:24here at all.
02:27Did you think that he clocked him as also being closeted
02:30from the get-go or what do you think made him go
02:33straight to Cameron?
02:35I think, I mean, first of all, I thank the director
02:38for that shot because I remember seeing it and I was like,
02:40that's like a superhero shot and it was super cool.
02:43But I think Sullivan's main goal in life is to be this Marine,
02:49this perfect Marine, you know, he's a recon Marine.
02:52And the whole sole purpose that he becomes a drill instructor
02:54is to run away from his past, you know.
02:56He's carrying something really heavy
02:58and this is his moment to disappear.
03:01So I think when he sees Cameron for the first time,
03:03it's almost a smack in the face that sort of reminds him
03:07what he's running away from.
03:08I think he does sense there's something in there.
03:10And because he thinks he's not going to make it,
03:14he doesn't want him to go through what he's gone through.
03:16So he uses all of his energy and the other recruits
03:19are sort of pawns to basically get him to quit.
03:21He wants Cameron to leave, which is why it's so tough on him.
03:24Miles and Liam, you talked about the bromance,
03:26but also like about halfway through during the episode
03:29where you guys go through rifle training,
03:32you guys have this very visceral fight
03:33where all of this unspoken angst comes out.
03:36What was it like to sort of, you know,
03:53show these characters in a rougher patch in their friendship?
03:57It was definitely a huge shift for us.
03:58I mean, we get along so well and I think going into it,
04:02we both have sort of similar views about things
04:04of like trying not to take anything too seriously.
04:07So we went into it pretty, pretty lightly as people.
04:11But I do think that's like this huge turning point for them.
04:15So I think we, we, we put a lot of attention on that
04:19to make sure that it like it worked and it made sense.
04:22I think Liam said this a lot,
04:23but there's sort of this dynamic between them
04:26where Ray has always been Cameron's protector.
04:29And I think it's, it's starting to shift
04:31and I think that's sort of uncomfortable for both of them.
04:33And it comes out in this, this sort of crazy, unexpected way.
04:40And in some sick way, I think it's like sort of necessary.
04:43The hitting was maybe a bit much,
04:45but I think that they didn't need to acknowledge, I know.
04:48Yeah, seriously.
04:49Yeah, I think that like, you know,
04:52Ray is in this weird place where he doesn't realize
04:56that he needs to be needed in this way by Cameron.
04:58He, he, he, you know, is so used to this role
05:01of, of being the protector.
05:03And I think when, when, you know, Cameron starts to kind of come
05:08into his own over the course of the series,
05:09I think that ultimately it comes from this place of deep fear
05:12that maybe his best friend doesn't need him in the same way anymore.
05:15And I, I think that is a feeling that a lot of people
05:18who are friends from a very young age
05:20and have to grow up together experience.
05:22It's like you, you inevitably grow in different ways
05:25and sometimes you grow in peril and sometimes you grow apart.
05:27Max, we learn later in the series
05:28about what happened in Guam with Wilkinson
05:30and how Sullivan had this really beautiful romance
05:33that he had to throw away in order to just stay in the Marines.
05:36I didn't hear a question, ma'am.
05:38Is Major Wilkinson a homosexual?
05:39I wouldn't know.
05:40Do you have a relationship with Major Wilkinson?
05:43No. Ask me.
05:44Are you a homosexual?
05:47No.
05:47What did it mean to be able to depict that on screen?
05:49And also, how does it hit Sullivan to discover
05:52that his offhand remark to his friend
05:54is what eventually got Wilkinson in trouble?
05:57Yeah, I know it was heartbreaking to read
06:00because you obviously want to play someone like being the hero
06:03and obviously it's a horrible thing that he did.
06:07Again, it just goes back to the sense of that he's belonging.
06:10I think a lot of people in the show want to feel like they belong
06:13and Sullivan feels that he belongs in the military.
06:16So when he's given the choice between love and the military,
06:21he couldn't give up the military.
06:23And yeah, he ends up being the downfall of his love
06:27and also throughout the show, sort of his own downfall as well.
06:32You see him towards the end, you just feel so...
06:35You just see him so lost, this hero from shot one
06:38all the way to the end of the series.
06:40It's like such a big journey.
06:42And sort of, he used to be the role model for Cameron
06:45and I think it sort of switches at the end,
06:48sort of Cameron knows that he's, he can make it on his own
06:50and that's probably not what he wants to be.
06:53And basically they don't do that or you'll end up like that.
06:56One of the most poignant moments in the whole series
06:58is Ochoa's death.
07:00Can you tell me how that affected the entire mood of the cast
07:04and going forward because there's a lot of really tense scenes
07:07that follow and also moments where the group comes together
07:10and really bonds what they haven't before.
07:12Yeah, I feel like that episode sort of is this turning point
07:16for everybody and sort of kicks off this sort of second half
07:19of the show that's a lot more about like interpersonal connections
07:23and less about just struggling through the physical challenges.
07:27And I love that turning point in the show.
07:30It's also so fun to film.
07:31There's, we have all these huge group scenes
07:33and we're all like doing pull ups and dying outside.
07:37And then like the last half we get to like sit on the bunks
07:40and have like human conversations and interactions.
07:45I think that serves as this thing where everyone realizes
07:48how serious this is and starts to come together.
07:51And I think it shifted the dynamic on set too,
07:55just because the story sort of starts to change
07:58and all of our characters start to change.
08:01So yeah, it definitely is a big turning point.
08:04Yeah, I think Max's character has a line about, you know,
08:08it doesn't necessarily always happen this early,
08:11but this type of loss is inevitable for the path that you've chosen.
08:16And some of you will carry a lot of weight in your packs
08:19and some of you will carry none.
08:21Losing a brother is not normal for recruits,
08:25but it is inevitable for Marines.
08:28You will learn this lesson here or in combat.
08:32You will put this in your pack.
08:35You will carry it and you will move on.
08:37And it's, you know, unfortunate that this happened
08:40within the first couple of weeks of your experience as a Marine,
08:43but ultimately it's something that you have to move through
08:45and remember him and move on and kind of carry his memory with you.
08:50Max, I have a question that I'm dying to know
08:53what you think the answer is to, which is the show ends.
08:56We don't know where Sullivan goes.
08:57He kind of goes AWOL as you will.
09:00Where do you imagine he's going?
09:02I think when he, that symbolic moment
09:05where he passes the radio to Cameron,
09:08it's, I think, the first time you see Sullivan
09:10give in to what's about to happen.
09:12Sorry I let you down.
09:15But you don't need me anymore.
09:19You ready, Cole?
09:21He's put someone in a coma.
09:23You know, he's literally struggling with alcoholism
09:25and he's being, you know, chased down by the law
09:30for other things and for being gay.
09:31So I don't know where it's going to go.
09:35But I mean, there's so many places.
09:38I think, I think, I know as much as you.
09:42Yeah.
09:43I don't know.
09:44I think you went to West Hollywood.
09:45Yeah, I think he's opening a bad story.
09:47He's at the Think Pony Club?
09:48Yeah, that's me.
09:49Yeah.
09:50Yeah.
09:51Speaking of what comes next, Miles,
09:53I love the beat at the end where they've all gone through training
09:56and then George Bush on TV says they're invading Iraq.
10:00And you're like, oh, just like, you know, summer camp.
10:02Right.
10:02Can you see this going on another season?
10:03Would you want to follow this team of recruits as they go to war?
10:08I would do literally anything for a season two.
10:11So yeah, I'm hoping.
10:12I'm glad it ends on a little bit of a cliffhanger.
10:16Simultaneously, I think it is this, it's a very powerful ending
10:19to you see this like beautiful camaraderie and this incredible achievement's been made
10:24by everybody and then this harsh reality of like what they actually signed up for hits
10:29them.
10:30And I think that would be very interesting to explore in season two, especially for Cameron
10:35who really was just running away from his family and wanted to be with his best friend
10:40to this suddenly realizing like this is a very serious decision and I think that would
10:45make for a lot of interesting arcs in season two.
10:49So I'm hoping.
10:50There's so many great characters in the show that it really is an ensemble show and you
10:55don't necessarily get to see all of the characters.
10:57I think we've just scratched the surface with so many of them.
10:59So I think it needs a season two obviously so you can see.
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