By Kathy A. McDonald
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -
Ryan Phillippe gained Hollywood
fame and won fans with his piercing blue eyes and good looks in
the 1990s, but the actor says he has never been interested in
being just another pretty face in the movies.
So in recent years Phillippe, 33, has focused on gritty
roles in films whose stories are rooted in real-life, such as
Iraq war tale "Stop-Loss" which lands in theaters on Friday.
"Stop-Loss," written and directed by Kimberly Peirce, stars
Phillippe as a soldier returning from war overseas and follows
his recent dramatic turns in Clint Eastwood's World War II tale
"Flags of Our Fathers" and best film Oscar winner "Crash,"
about race relations.
As he looks to the future, Phillippe said he wants to
explore more quirky and offbeat roles.
"I'm looking now to go into a more character-based
direction that is maybe not as straightforward as some of the
stuff I've done recently," the actor told Reuters. "Right now
I'm more interested in getting a little wild."
Peirce's first film, "Boys Don't Cry," about a
transgendered character, was a box office and critical hit for
a low-budget film and garnered Hilary Swank a best actress
Oscar.
His dilemma raises numerous conflicts for Phillippe's
character and his fellow soldiers, played by Channing Tatum and
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as well as the women they come home to.
HARD SELL AT BOX OFFICES
Phillippe said he does not see the movie as about the war
so much as about how the current conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan have impacted U.S. men and women at home.
Last year several war movies such as "In the Valley of
Elah" flopped at box offices, and while he acknowledged the
failures of those films to attract audiences, Phillippe said
"Stop-Loss" has an edgy and youthful energy.
"We're different in as much it's about the soldier and the
soldier's perspective," Phillippe said. "Ours doesn't get into
political territory. Ours doesn't preach."
Moreover, "Stop-Loss" has a female's perspective coming
from the mind and eye of writer-director Peirce, and Phillippe
said Hollywood needs to nurture more women storytellers.
"I know how difficult it can be for women, sometimes, in
this industry," he said.
Indeed Phillippe's ex-wife Reese Witherspoon has risen to
the top of Hollywood's A-list but only recently was able to
produce her own film, "Penelope," about a young woman who is
outcast from society due to her disfigured nose.
Though his and Witherspoon's divorce falls under "gossipy,
personal stuff" that Phillippe won't discuss, he will talk
about the paparazzi who track his, Witherspoon's and their two
children's daily moves, snapping pictures in private moments.
"You're a sitting duck and a target they can rely on at any
point in time because you're in a car and you're easily
followed," Phillippe said. "Every day of my life, as I leave my
neighborhood, someone is following me."
co-star Abbie Cornish has fueled speculation about his love
life, but Phillippe disregards all the stories.
"I try to not to spend too much time worrying about what
people think about me or I'd end up in a cave," he said.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Cynthia Osterman)
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