Yeah, September 11 happened and all my friends were like, 'Let's join the military!' and I was the only one who actually did.
Acting is a business and a political act and a craft, but I also feel like it's a service - specifically, for a military audience.
There were definitely dark nights when you're like, 'Maybe joining the military wasn't such a good idea.' But, in a way, it was the best training to be an actor.
When I happened to get into school, I felt like I could approach it as aggressively as things in the military.
Sophocles was a general: a warrior writing plays about military situations.
I was an infantry Marine, and there are only so many things you can do when you get out of the military that you can apply your job to. Either a janitor or a cop. I tried to do both of those things because what else are you going to do?
I've seen incredible acts of humanity in the military because people put themselves aside, and it's about the other person.
The military community in particular, I think, could always be more supported, especially people who are being processed out of the military and trying to readjust to being civilians.
'Firewall' seems both scary and protective at the same time. And how often does that happen within one word besides 'military' and 'government?'
I was born in Chicago, then I spent most of my youth in Joliet, Illinois which is about thirty minutes south, and I went to a military academy for high school in Wisconsin. Then I went to college, on a basketball scholarship to a small school in Iowa, so I'm like Mr. Midwest.
