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Q&A: Actor Miles Teller, director Jason Hall and veteran Adam Schumann talk the "after-war"

RedEye - 10/10/2017

Oct. 10--Serving in the military, from basic training to combat itself, is an affecting, singular experience for veterans. Unfortunately, when vets are able to return home, the trauma and other effects of their service are not easily left behind, and they often struggle to readjust to civilian life. This difficulty is commonly known as the "after-war."

Journalist David Finkel helped popularize the term with his book, "Thank You For Your Service," which tells the story of Army sergeant Adam Schumann and his infantry-mates as they reintegrate into their home lives. Their story touches on everything from big issues to the seemingly banal; from suicide to cooking pancakes.

Now a feature-length film starring Miles Teller and written and directed by "American Sniper" penman Jason Hall, "Thank You for Your Service" offers an intimate portrayal of these personal struggles and helps turn them into a universal tale of trials and success.

We sat down with Teller, Hall and veteran Adam Schumann himself to talk about the process of making the movie and how they hope it affects audience's understanding of modern military service.

Q: What was it like seeing the difficult parts of your life made into a movie?

Schumann: Most people don't get a chance to look back. You have a memory, but it's just a shitty memory. I can watch this movie and go, holy crap, I was pretty messed up. But then I also look at myself in the mirror right now and I'm like, holy crap, I came through that. I'm on the other side of it; I'm off that mountain.

Q:What are the kinds of things you do now that you enjoy? Now that you've come out on the other side of it.

Schumann: Fishing? I get my kids every other week; Saski and I divorced awhile back. It's just me in my apartment, waking them up in the morning, cooking them breakfast, getting them dressed, doing homework, taking them to school, playin' catch, buyin' dresses. And, then, I fish. I hunt a lot. When I deployed, my wife at the time and my daughter were my rocks, and that's what I thought about--fishing and hunting and the things I used to love, and that gave me a sense of hope every time I was gone. That's what I'm doing this for. It's taken some time, but I'm finally back to it. Do I have a house with a white picket fence and a wife and kids and everybody's happy? No, but my kids are happy, I'm happy, the dog's happy. Everything's OK.

Q: Still have the dog?

Schumann: Yeah; she's 12 now, so she's getting old. Just the other day we were out grouse huntin'. We walk 5 to 10 miles a day out in the country. Halfway through the day I'll just lay down on a rock somewhere in the middle of the field and look up at the clouds, take a deep breath, and take a look over at my dog, and just be thankful to have the opportunity to do this now.

Q: Miles,what Finkel calls the "after war"--the issues are everyday stuff. I'm curious how you got in a head space to see things just slightly differently like that.

Teller: The movie starts out as this character, Adam, had gone through immense trauma, so the first thing I do is go through that with Adam.And I had read some of the books. There's not a transition program that our military has for these guys; they're literally going from the worst day of their lives--losing a buddy or a brother--to cooking pancakes.

They go from a world that's completely black and white, and I've heard Adam say, "That world is easy to understand." It's when you get back, and you've gotta fill in the blanks. There is no silver bullet for these things; I think it's extremely complex. Playing Adam was a challenge, but I think it was there in the script and Adam obviously went through it, so it was my job to just connect the two.

Q: So you guys talked a fair amount before?

Schumann: Not really, we talked for about two days. You could tell Miles really wanted to get that right, and the questions he asked reallymade me comfortable. I think if you ask the right questions, you don't have to ask a hundred of them--one question might cover everything.

Hall: The reality is that trauma from war is not that different from any other kind of trauma. It records itself in the same way. It has the same biological effects on people, and Miles has experienced, as he's shared often, his own version of trauma. This isn't just limited to soldiers. Trauma is something that a large degree of our population experiences, at some point.

Q: Do you think letting the audience see the complexity of how trauma affects people in their day-to-day is something that can help the conversation?

Hall: Yes, people are changed by it.

Q: How did you balance the act of telling a true story with creating a compelling narrative?

Hall: I always find it funny when people look at adaptations, and they're like, "Well, that's not true, that's not true, that's not true," and I'm like, that's what screenwriting is: how you take a true story and make it into a movie, and still have it have the same meaning. That is the art of it.

Teller: (Schumann's) buddy saw it last night, and he was deployed with Adam. If anybody knew what was accurate and what wasn't, it was this kid. He said, "You guys got the feel of it right on."

Q: The dialogue when people come back is so fraught sometimes. Consider the title of the movie, "Thank You For Your Service." I know some vets have a hard time knowing how to respond to that. What are your feelings on this type of dialogue after working on the movie?

Teller: A lot of my closest friends are military. I'm able to kind of ask questions, so there's not that wall that I think separates civilians from veterans. By doing this movie, I feel like it has brought me a better understanding. We went through a pretty intense boot camp with all the guys. One of my really good buddies who passed away was a Marine, and I remember finishing this experience and sitting around the bonfire talking and I just started bawlin', man. I was almost wishing that I had went through this before he passed away, 'cause I felt like I understood him more as a person just by getting this little taste.

"Thank You for Your Service" hits theaters Friday, Oct. 27.

Q-and-As are edited for length and clarity.

@lucheezy -- adlukach@redeyechicago.com

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