I look for as much originality as I can find when I choose a part. I'm hoping - and sometimes it's a vain hope, sometimes it's a mere fantasy - that they're all different. I shy away from categorising roles, in the same way I shy away from categorising people.
When the screenplay for Rules Of Engagement came to me, I was told I could play either attorney Colonel Hayes Hodges, or his old friend Colonel Terry L. Childers (Samuel L. Jackson), the man he must defend in court for opening fire on civilians. I found it more appealing to play Hayes, this character who is essentially a failure at life, and has very little self-esteem. He's just about ready to throw in the towel. For reasons of friendship and loyalty, he finds he has to face his weaknesses and reach within himself and find the strength to do something heroic.
There were many irresistible things about Rules Of Engagement from an actor's point of view. Sherry Lansing runs a nice, well-organised motion picture studio called Paramount. Working with director William Friedkin was an attraction. Billy's reputation is good, and they put me in with some fine company - Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Greenwood and Guy Pearce.
The film raises some good questions. The primary one being: what are the proper rules of engagement? Under what circumstances should the United States military exercise deadly force outside our own borders? Should it be when our national interests are threatened - or do we have a moral obligation to intervene in Western Africa or Eastern Europe when we see innocent civilians being senselessly slaughtered? Or should we stay away from those places? Those are all good questions.
