Sam Rockwell may have quit his gig playing a Navy Seal in Demi Moore‘s infamous 1997 drama G.I. Jane, but he was treated to one heck of a night out before he left.
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday, the White Lotus star recalled how Moore put together a wild party for the actors playing Navy Seals in the film, as well as the Navy Seals who were training them for the film. But the outing wasn’t just for fun — it was also preparation.
“Demi Moore had just done Striptease, the movie, and she got a strip joint, and she got all the strippers and the Navy Seals and the actors and got us drunk on tequila,” said Rockwell. “And they shaved our heads — the strippers and Demi shaved our heads, and we got drunk with the Navy Seals and got lap dances.”
An astonished Kimmel replied, “And you quit that movie?”
Indeed, Rockwell did leave the job before filming began — and he blames himself for not fully understanding the demands of the role.
“I realized that when you play a Navy Seal, in BUD/S [Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL] training, you have to be in the water a lot. So, I probably should have read the script more thoroughly,” the actor admitted. Rockwell went on to explain that he was “really skinny at the time,” and as a result ended up experiencing “early hypothermia” after prolonged training sessions in the water. “I missed my girlfriend and I wanted to get out of there, so I did the boot camp, and then I split.”
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Though he left early, Rockwell says G.I. Jane director Ridley Scott didn’t hold it against him, and the two worked together again six years later in Matchstick Men.
Rockwell is currently a favorite to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama for his talked-about turn as Frank, friend of Walton Goggins‘ Rick, on The White Lotus. Though Woody Harrelson was originally supposed to play the role, he had to drop out due to scheduling. Rockwell credited his partner, actress Leslie Bibb, for encouraging him to join her in season 3, and for helping him prepare for Frank’s epic monologue.
“Usually for a two-and-a-half page monologue, ideally you want two or three months,” Rockwell explained. “But I only had like four weeks or something.”
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