Battleship The Movie in Casablanca, Morocco

• Info
• Cast & Crew

• Genre: Action,Adventure,Science fiction
  
  Synopsis:
  An epic adventure unfolds across the high seas, as American sailors (Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna ) go to war against an army of invading aliens.
  
  Release Date: 04/11/2012
  Running Time: 131
  
  Rating: PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned
  
  http://www.battleshipmovie.com/
  
• Cast:
  Lt. Alex Hopper: Taylor Kitsch,Stone: Alexander Skarsgard,Petty Officer Cora Raikes: Rihanna ,Sam Shane: Brooklyn Decker,Capt. Yugi Nagata: Asano Tadanobu,Admiral Shane: Liam Neeson,Cal Zapata: Hamish Linklater,Jimmy ``Ordy'' Ord: Jesse Plemons,Chief Petty Officer Walter ``The Beast'' Lynch: John Tui,Lt. Col. Mick Canales: Gregory Gadson D.,Chief Engineer Hiroki: Joji Yoshida,Brownley: Rico McClinton,Dr. Nogrady: Adam Godley,Strodell: Jerry Ferrara,U.S. Secretary of Defense: Peter MacNicol
  
  Crew:
  Director: Peter Berg,Screenwriter: Jon Hoeber,Screenwriter: Erich Hoeber,Producer: Brian Goldner,Producer: Scott Stuber,Producer: Peter Berg,Producer: Sarah Aubrey,Producer: Duncan Henderson,Producer: Bennett Schneir,Executive Producer: Jonathan Mone,Executive Producer: Braden Aftergood,Cinematographer: Tobias Schliessler,Production Design: Neil Spisak,Film Editor: Colby Parker Jr.,Film Editor: Billy Rich,Film Editor: Paul Rubell,Costume Designer: Louise Mingenbach,Original Music: Steve Jablonsky,Casting: Linda Lowy,Casting: John Brace
  
  Production Companies:
  Film 44,Bluegrass Films
  
  Distributors:
  Universal Pictures
  
  Notes:
  Production Notes - Notes provided by Universal Pictures - Production Information In Summer 2012, the battle for Earth begins at sea. PETER BERG (Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights) directs and produces Battleship, an epic-scale action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force. Battleship stars TAYLOR KITSCH (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, John Carter) as Lieutenant Alex Hopper, a naval weapons officer assigned to USS John Paul Jones; ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD (HBO's True Blood, Melancholia) as Hopper's older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of USS Sampson; global music superstar RIHANNA, making her motion-picture debut as Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, Hopper's crewmate and a weapons specialist on USS John Paul Jones; BROOKLYN DECKER (Just Go With It) as Sam Shane, Hopper's fiancée and a physical therapist specializing in the rehabilitation of military combat veterans; TADANOBU ASANO (Thor, upcoming 47 Ronin), as Captain Yugi Nagata, Commanding Officer of the Japanese destroyer Myoko and Hopper's archrival; and LIAM NEESON (The Grey, Taken) as Hopper and Stone's superior (and Sam's father), Admiral Shane, Commander of the Pacific Fleet. Supporting the cast are HAMISH LINKLATER (Fantastic Four) as Cal Zapata, a scientist who mans the international satellite station in Hawaii that searches the skies for signs of life; JESSE PLEMONS (NBC's Friday Night Lights) as Jimmy ``Ordy Ord, a boatswain aboard USS John Paul Jones; New Zealander JOHN TUI (Samoan Wedding) as the ship's engine room expert, Chief Petty Officer Walter ``The Beast Lynch; and, in his professional acting debut, U.S. Army Colonel GREGORY D. GADSON, a battalion leader who lost both legs in Iraq in 2007. Gadson plays Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales, an Army combat veteran and double amputee who begins his recovery just as the alien attack begins. Inspired by Hasbro's classic naval-combat game, Battleship is produced by BRIAN GOLDNER and BENNETT SCHNEIR of Hasbro (the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises), SCOTT STUBER (Safe House, Couples Retreat), Film 44's SARAH AUBREY (The Kingdom), along with DUNCAN HENDERSON (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The Perfect Storm). The action-adventure is written by JON HOEBER & ERICH HOEBER (Red). In assembling his team, Berg turned to a seasoned group of movie veterans, many with whom he has previously collaborated. They include director of photography TOBIAS SCHLIESSLER (Friday Night Lights, Hancock); production designer NEIL SPISAK (Hancock, Spider-Man); film editors COLBY PARKER, JR. (Friday Night Lights, Hancock), BILLY RICH (American Gangster, Robin Hood) and PAUL RUBELL (Transformers, Hancock); and costume designer LOUISE MINGENBACH (Hancock, The Hangover). Executive producers are JONATHAN MONE (The Wolfman) and BRADEN AFTERGOOD. For the film's spectacular visual effects, Berg recruited a pair of movie magicians from the renowned ranks of the award-winning Industrial Light & Magic-PABLO HELMAN (War of the Worlds, Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones) and GRADY COFER (There Will Be Blood, Star Trek). Special effects were mastered by Academy Award(R) winner BURT DALTON (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Star Trek). Battleship filmed primarily on location in Honolulu, Hawaii, and received unprecedented support from the U.S. Navy throughout production. The Navy allowed the motion-picture crew to visit several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers while in Pearl Harbor-USS Hopper (DDG 70), temporarily moored in Pearl Harbor, as well as USS Preble (DDG 88) and USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), both home ported in Hawaii. Additionally, the production was able to visit Chung-Hoon at sea, which allowed cast and crew to view the sailors as they trained. Fittingly, the team shot on the Battleship Missouri Memorial (BB-63), the site of the 1945 Japanese surrender to Allied forces, which marked the end of World War II. ABOUT THE PRODUCTION Battleship to Destroyer: Production Begins When filmmaker Peter Berg signed on to develop and to helm Battleship for Universal Pictures and Hasbro, he was conducting early research for another film about the U.S. Navy, a lifelong passion of his. Hasbro president and CEO Brian Goldner and top company movie executive Bennett Schneir were keen to partner with the director, who had not only brought spectacle to the juggernaut Hancock and action and drama to Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom, but also harbored a deep passion for all things nautical since boyhood. Goldner shares: ``Pete has such a love for these ships, the history of the Navy and being out at sea. We knew it would come across on the big screen. The action-adventure represents the culmination of a lifelong dream for the director, who often toured naval museums with his father. Berg says: ``Battleship is a passion of mine because, as a kid, I spent so much time on ships, absorbing detailed histories about the great battles of WWII from my father. When this fell into my lap, it didn't take me long to find a take for the film-a contemporary story of an international fleet engaged in a very dynamic, violent and intense fight that's chock-full of action-packed sea battles with big hardware and conflict. You can go anywhere in the world and say 'Battleship,' and people will know it. In today's market, that's a big plus for turning a brand into a film. Berg had forged a fantastic relationship with this division of the armed forces, and that would serve him well as preproduction began. He shares: ``The Navy liked the fact that their branch gets to save the world. The destroyer sailors liked that for the first time a movie's focus wasn't on an aircraft carrier. If you talk to Navy destroyer crews, they are engaged in real fighting. Their kick-ass ships protect aircraft carriers. Still, the movie's title is a bit of a misnomer. Explains Berg: ``Even though the film is called Battleship, actual battleships have been taken out of active naval duty and replaced with these bad boys-Aegis naval destroyers-the most lethal fighting ships on the planet. Sharing in production duties on Battleship is Bluegrass Films producer Scott Stuber, himself the son of a naval veteran. The epic action-adventure represents his second project with Berg, after their 2007 collaboration, The Kingdom, and is the latest offering from the producer who brought audiences the blockbuster action-thriller Safe House. Though the producer knew he was headed into an enormous production, he wasn't daunted by the thought of ensuring that audiences would see a ``complete naval fleet unleashed. Stuber says: ``Having worked with Pete before, I knew he would make a movie about a modern-day naval conflict with authenticity and excitement. Stuber offers that the game's lack of narrative structure turned out to be a plus for its translation. ``When you work on movies adapted from literature or comic books and such, the audience has predisposed notions of the characters' arcs, he says. ``They visualize the story as they read it. This is a whole different challenge, because we had to create characters. The fun of the game is the blind reveal, the strategy, me versus you. Conversely, it's freeing not to begin with preexisting characters, because you aren't restricted to what is spelled out in the source material. You can create that within the dynamic of the story, one that translates into a big action movie. The story of this source material is an interesting one indeed. In 1984, Hasbro purchased the Milton Bradley Company and inherited several global-brand-name toys and games, including ``Battleship. As one of the world's premier toy manufacturers, Hasbro began strategizing about how to translate its popular brands into other mediums. Under the leadership of Goldner for the past decade, Hasbro has successfully reinvigorated its classic brands. The company has reinvented them for a variety of new mediums, including blockbuster feature films, television, digital entertainment, publishing, consumer goods, licensing and retail. After the blockbuster success of the toys-to-films Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Hasbro reviewed the catalogue and focused on ``Battleship as its first game-to-film. Still, the company knew it wouldn't move forward until a crucial dilemma was resolved: how to logically transfigure a beloved property into a cohesive and entertaining motion picture. Discussing the reasons to tackle this ambitious project with Berg's team and Stuber, Goldner explains: ``'Battleship' is a global brand that has been enjoyed for nearly 40 years in more than 30 countries. It's known as 'Battleship,' or 'Naval Battles,' everywhere around the world. People know the game play and understand the face-off nature of it. We knew we could take its compelling elements and play them out in a reimagined manner. Plus, we believed that bringing the alien element into the property would make it contemporary and very universal. At its core, according to the producer, is a story of strategy that engages audiences. Goldner reflects: ``No matter whom you're playing in 'Battleship,' you're sizing your opponent up, both from a personality standpoint as well as strategically. It was that face-off that intrigued us, because that's the mark of the brand and what has made the game popular around the globe for so many years. That sense that you and your opponent are strategizing against the blind reveal is so critical to the game play. We knew we could make a film story around that. Several years ago, Goldner had recruited film executive Bennett Schneir with the goal of tapping into Schneir's expertise to develop movie franchises and tentpoles from Hasbro's catalogue. Schneir says: ``We looked at the core of this property and recognized that 'Battleship' is a game of wits, intuition, logic and smarts as you try to figure out who your enemy is and win the day. We thought it had all of the elements for a huge, incredible movie. It's cinematic, exciting and adventurous. To our filmmakers, the game was an incredible launching-off point. Addressing the skeptics, Schneir reflects: ``It's easy to ask, 'Why do you need 'Battleship' to make a movie about ships versus aliens?' You could also ask why you would need Pirates of the Caribbean to make a movie about pirates and skeletons, or why you would need Transformers to make a movie about robots from space who come to Earth. There is so much in the core DNA of 'Battleship' that is a source of inspiration for filmmakers. There are signposts along the way of the concept of the blind reveal, of knowing nothing and then knowing everything. The three-act-play structural experience of the game, the fantasy of game play, and how that translates into a movie became the canvas upon which our filmmakers painted their vision of the story. Like Goldner, Schneir approached the film's development by underscoring what is unique about the game. ``'Battleship' is a big part of our childhood and part of the family experience, the producer says. ``I like the notion of fighting against an enemy you can't see. Little by little, the curtain is raised, and you learn where your enemy put his ships and where you should strike next. That's what leads you to victory. Bringing that emotional connection to the big screen is powerful and compelling. Though its modern counterpart is the destroyer, the war machine known as the battleship was prominent in WWII and was in use until the first Iraq War in 1991. Explains Stuber: ``Battleships were defined by their power and muscle and built to take on shrapnel. They were giant ships with giant guns and thick hulls that had extraordinary power. They are the protectors of the fleet. They're like Secret Service agents: if an enemy fires, they step in front of the carrier and take the shell. There's something extraordinarily heroic about being the first dog in the fight. Within the fleet, there's also the aircraft carrier, another amazing ship that is like an airport in the middle of the ocean. Ultimately, it was the battleship's job, and today, the destroyer's, to protect that carrier. Echoes Berg's production partner at Film 44, Sarah Aubrey: ``Destroyers are magnificent pieces of machinery, run by incredibly smart and brave people. We thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase them within the context of this game that people have such an affinity for. We take you inside of these massive oceangoing beasts. You will see their weapons, missiles, all of their muscular power. In our story, they're the underdog. So we introduce this mighty Navy fleet steaming out to sea, unlike anything we've experienced in a movie. Berg and Aubrey were excited that their dream of making a nautical adventure was finally coming to fruition, and they knew it would be epic. ``The game allowed us the opportunity to do our modern naval-battle movie, Aubrey continues. ``Most naval movies are period, because in this day and age, you don't often have pitched battles at sea. We have not seen the modern Navy in its full glory on screen, with these ships and weaponry, in this kind of scope and scale. While the filmmakers had their title character, they needed to craft a story, replete with tested heroes and the mysterious enemy whom they would encounter on the high seas. Berg explains: ``This idea of having naval warships battle aliens came to me one day. I knew that the only way the film would succeed is if it worked as a character story. The CG and the spectacle would then support the characters. Berg looked to Red writers Erich and Jon Hoeber to partner with him. The brothers sat with Berg in spring 2009 to pitch themselves as the project's screenwriters. ``The alien aspect was in our first pitch: Navy saves the world from an invasion, they explain. ``We started with a blank slate. Pete tore our pitch apart, but there was spitballing and collaboration. Once we got the gig, we wrote an elaborate treatment over the summer and the first draft that fall. Throughout the development, we had great synchronicity. Pete's a quarterback with bottomless energy who brought a lot of big ideas. We did a lot of brainstorming about what we wanted the film to feel like and what the main structural elements should be. Then we created the characters and the dramatic situations. The writers were drawn to bring to life a naval epic that hit the hallmarks of the game while introducing a complex alien attack, commenting: ``The idea of being able to write a big naval action film was exciting. It's been a long time since anyone made a film that so prominently featured the U.S. Navy. It was a rare opportunity. Plus, the opportunity to do that in a modern setting was extraordinary, with an enemy that we would fight toe-to-toe instead of lobbing cruise missiles at from miles off a coastline. In preparation for their script, the brothers delved into research mode, spending three days out at sea on an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Preble. They note: ``What an incredible experience, watching this young crew in action; their professionalism, dedication and drive were truly inspiring. They gave us full run of the ship, and we quickly got familiar with their language, culture and details of the hardware they operate. They ran war scenarios for us that helped us to make things as realistic as possible for both the story and characters. The writers worked with Berg to explore what would happen if an alien race responded to a series of interstellar transmissions from NASA to a ``Goldilocks planet in another galaxy. Known as ``Planet G, this planet to which the NASA scientists have been transmitting for six years is a mirror image of our own world. The logic is that if a planet is too far from its sun, the world is too cold to sustain life; if a planet is too close to its sun, it is too hot to allow for the growth of flora and fauna. This ``just right planet with which we've been communicating is similar to ours and able to hold water at the right mass to sustain an atmosphere and therefore life. And unfortunately for Earth, its inhabitants have come to take our resources. Aubrey reports that as the screenplay developed, the team found an organic way to introduce the game concept. They were not only able to bring, organically, the title character into the mix, but also to set up three other ships equipped for battle under an impenetrable field that was 300,000 feet in altitude and two nautical miles wide. She says: ``Pete came up with the idea that our ship is operating blind, like in the game. All of their radar capability has been taken away early on in a fight with the aliens. As a result, our heroes are hunting the enemy in the dark. So, Hopper and Nagata have to quickly figure out how to track the alien fleet-without radar-so they can strike them as they bombard the vessel. As Hopper is struggling with a solution, Nagata explains a tactic that his countrymen have used before to locate ships in the Pacific. In their research, Berg and the writers discovered that tsunami buoys exist along the Hawaiian coastlines, and their function is to triangulate water disbursement. Aubrey explains what that meant for the script: ``Buoys measure water displacement as an early tsunami-warning system for those living along these vulnerable coastal areas. Nagata uses them to quickly map out a grid, which comes up on his ship's radar screen, simulating the grid of the board game itself. It's a fun way to get the audience to recognize that familiar grid and that we're playing 'Battleship.' An International Crew: Casting the Action-Adventure As the script's action took shape, the filmmakers set out to populate their story with a band of heroes who happen upon their alien foes after investigating of a piece of debris floating off the coast of Oahu. Joining them in the production would be accomplished producer Duncan Henderson, who had helped to bring the ocean-set epics Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Poseidon to life and served in key production roles on A Perfect Storm and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. When the Battleship team was researching the project, they spent time on destroyers in the Navy's fleet and made a visit to the U.S. military's Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in Florida. The team was impressed by the young men and women who populate the Navy's high-tech ranks, as well as the extreme situations for which they train. It became strikingly clear that at the wrong time in politics or war, these sailors could be in the middle of life-and-death situations for which they so arduously trained. Stuber shares that Berg's depth of research and experience as an actor resulted in casting a group who did justice to the brave sailors they met. ``Pete wants to emulate everything the way it would happen, whether it's through an actor's performance or an explosion on the side of a ship, he says. ``On Friday Night Lights, he didn't just read the book, he went to Texas to immerse himself in the world of high-school football. A lot of that comes from being an actor. Other actors trust him because they see he wants to get their best performance. He's takes these authentic characters and puts them in big worlds. In crafting the film's protagonist, Hopper, Berg and the Hoeber brothers imagined a character who is forced to grow up fast. A hothead kid who shoots from the hip, Hopper learns discipline through his naval service, especially from his older brother. Stone's frustration with his sibling leads him to insist that Hopper get his life together. ``It's brotherly love taken to a whole new level, says Aubrey. ``Still, Hopper is a guy who leads with his chin and is always looking for a fight. ``I think Battleship is autobiographical, laughs Goldner. ``In many ways, Hopper is Pete. What I love about him is his willingness to bring that to the table. There are no filters. Pete's right in there, creating a characterization of someone who an audience can root for. Hopper is a tough guy, certainly challenged and with a history. You're going to see a depth of character that evolves. Pete created a character who is real, emblematic and enticing to an audience. Cast as Hopper was another longtime Berg collaborator, Taylor Kitsch. The performer's work in the critically acclaimed television show Friday Night Lights has moved audiences since 2006, and his scene-stealing work in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine finally brought to life Gambit, one of the most beloved characters in the X-Men universe. In addition to Battleship, Kitsch hits worldwide screens this spring as the title character in Disney's epic John Carter. In July, he will be seen in Universal's Savages, the new drama from Oliver Stone. Truly, it would take a partner like Berg for the actor to agree to cut his hair for the first time in 12 years. Berg began his career in front of the cameras before he turned to directing, and his style has long meshed with Kitsch's. ``I love the way that Pete shoots with regard to freedom...no marks or anything like that, the actor commends. ``Of course, I was used to his style from FNL and will always be grateful that Pete gave me that huge opportunity to play Riggins. Kitsch was also curious to explore the dynamic between the two brothers. He says: ``That is what put me overboard, no pun intended: the arc of where Hopper starts in the story-from stealing and being arrested to the head shaving when he enlists-to his becoming a leader. As an actor, that's everything. You see his emotion through the loss he suffers, then watch as he becomes the ship's captain. Hopper never wanted to be this guy, but he's thrown into it unexpectedly and is forced to reach his own potential in the most extreme circumstance. Even though he's in the Navy, his core hasn't changed. This guy who's saving the world is the same guy who you met in the beginning. ``In comparison, Stone gives him a purpose, and Hopper owes everything to his brother, the actor continues. ``Initially, he didn't want to reach his potential because of that risk of failure. He'd rather just sit and go with the flow because he can get by with no problem. But taking this risk is also risking failure, and that's something Hopper, in the beginning, just won't do. Calling Kitsch ``the real deal, Berg flew to London-where the performer was in production on John Carter-to pitch to him. Kitsch recalls the meal: ``The way Pete does it, it's not like your average meeting. It's like this: 'You want to do this with me or not? Let's do it. Let's kill it. Let's make a badass, fun movie with a heartbeat in it!' To have that responsibility and challenge is everything. There was already a trust there, which is everything on set. You've got to know that your director has you, your character and, of course, the film's best interest at heart. Kitsch shares the big screen with another television favorite, Alexander Skarsgård. The star of HBO's award-winning series True Blood was brought on to the production as Commander Stone, Hopper's disciplined older brother who convinces Hopper to get his act together by joining the Navy. Berg met the performer for dinner, this time in Los Angeles, where Skarsgård is based while filming the show on which he stars as Eric Northman, the aged Viking vampire. As it turns out, the eldest son of acting great Stellan Skarsgård was quite familiar with ``Battleship: He played the game, known in Swedish as ``Sänka Skepp (``Sink Ship), as a boy. ``On meeting Pete for the first time, I liked him, Skarsgård says. ``His energy was enthusiastic, as was the way he talked about the project. When he discussed his father's fascination with naval history, you could see Pete's passion come out. And I liked the dynamic between two brothers. Stone is diligent, hardworking, and attended the Naval Academy. He's very motivated. He also loves his younger brother, but he isn't sure how to help him. ``But Hopper doesn't have that drive at all, Skarsgård adds. ``He screws up all the time, but he's also charming. Stone's approach is to let his brother learn and grow from his mistakes. He's tough on Hopper, but you feel the love between them and the connection there. You have to feel that he really cares about his brother or it wouldn't work. I really liked the dynamic of their story arc. Skarsgård took care in sculpting his role by requesting time on a U.S. Navy vessel, USS Benfold (DDG 65) to watch a commanding officer (CO) and his crew in action. While the U.S. Navy was a new entity for him, the actor was no stranger to military service. Before co-starring as a marine in David Simon's gritty HBO miniseries Generation Kill, he had logged time as a Marine who worked in antiterrorism in his homeland of Sweden. The timing of Skarsgård's request coincided with the 2010 Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the biennial maritime event staged off of the Hawaiian coast. It is the world's largest international maritime gathering, and more than a dozen navies from around the globe participate. RIMPAC is hosted and administered by the U.S. Navy, with support from the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard, Hawaii's National Guard and the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which invites and oversees allied military forces from the Pacific Rim nations. With the cooperation of the U.S. Navy, Berg guided embedded camera crews on four ships for 12 days to capture the spectacle of these military war games and collect astonishing footage of the ships on the open seas. These crews were supported by camera boats and camera helicopters that added exponentially to the look of the film, and the sequences were then built into the screenplay. ``Fortunately, RIMPAC was on in Hawaii, so we went out there with Pete and camera crews for an amazing week, Skarsgård remembers. ``I did get to talk to the CO of the ship, which helped tremendously. I was also able to fly out and land on an aircraft carrier, which was spectacular. Skarsgård relates how Berg blended their on-deck experiences during RIMPAC into the film: ``Stone receives recognition because his ship, the Sampson, is the highest-ranking ship among the 13 nations and dozens of ships participating. Stone is proud of his ship and crew, and his little brother is a naval officer on another destroyer. That's also fun for Stone, to have Hopper out there on another ship. Another elite member of the U.S. Navy was played by Rihanna, making her feature-film debut. The Grammy Award winner was chosen to play the tough-as-nails gunner Petty Officer Second Class Cora Raikes, one of Hopper's fellow shipmates. ``From day one, I had strong feelings about Rihanna, Berg says. ``You can tell she's musical because she takes direction well, and she looked the part. I was very impressed with her work. The performer was open to acting roles before production began. ``I didn't know who I was going to play when I met with Pete, Rihanna reveals. ``After I got the script, I was so impressed by it, and I just loved the story. I couldn't put it down, which was a clear indication that it would be a film that I would enjoy watching. What I ended up enjoying about working with Pete was his energy, how adventurous and spontaneous he is. Rihanna completely responded to how tough her character was. ``Raikes kicks a lot of ass, she says. ``She's one of the boys, and it was fun to explore that because I was a tomboy as a kid. The character is filled with raw energy, and it was a moment for me to be someone completely different than what people are used to seeing. It was exciting for people to see me as an actress and look at me as Raikes and not Rihanna. For Rihanna's acting debut, Berg chose as a technical advisor a sailor who was just a year younger than the performer. By the time production began, JACQUELYN CARRIZOSA had spent three years in the Navy and was based on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) in San Diego. Carrizosa was a Gunner's Mate Second Class (SW/AW) whom Berg first spotted playing soccer for a U.S. Navy team during the 2010 RIMPAC. Berg says: ``I wanted Rihanna to see that it is possible to be tough, patriotic, kick-ass, and still be feminine and sexy. I looked at Jacque and thought she was Raikes. I saw her in the RIMPAC Cup, and she was the only girl playing soccer with a bunch of guys. She was all tatted up and had on this badass band T-shirt. She is a hard-core, dedicated sailor who was more than holding her own. I thought that she would be a good role model for Rihanna, and the two of them got along great. Rihanna remembers her first meeting with the sailor, who also played her double in the RIMPAC soccer game. She says: ``I had Jacque in my trailer all day long. I listened to the same music she listens to, and I just lived and breathed in her mind set because I was playing the part of who she is in real life. Raikes was not the only tough woman in the Hoeber brothers' screenplay. Meet physical therapist Samantha ``Sam Shane. Actress Brooklyn Decker was brought aboard to play Sam, Hopper's fiancée and the daughter of his CO. ``I was in Oahu, shooting Just Go With It, when I got the call, Decker recalls. ``I was told that I wasn't right for the role because they wanted someone tough, and I seemed a little too nice. But they kept calling me back, and I flew to L.A. and read for casting. A week later, Pete called me in to read. ``I knew the role would be very physical, and Pete wanted to make sure that I could stack up, Decker continues. ``So, he put me through the ringer. What made me want to be in this film was the fact that Pete was directing. He's big on strong female characters. The women in his movies never play the damsels in distress; they're never weak. When I read for Sam, I loved that she was this admiral's daughter, a bit of a rebel, strong and independent and could hold her own in helping to save the world. The director discusses why he chose Decker: ``She's incredibly mature for a 23-year-old. When Brooklyn was cast, there was speculation on whether this model could act. Brooklyn is going to surprise people. She's a bright, serious and beautiful woman who wants to do a great job. She is mature and quite good in the role. Unlike her co-stars, Decker's research did not involve a week on the high seas. Truly, she has the scars to prove her rugged, multiweek shoot in the Hawaiian brush. In preparing for the role of a physical therapist who rehabilitates wounded soldiers, the actress visited hospitals to meet with injured troops. She provides: ``I went to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu and another rehabilitation hospital later in the shoot, the Intrepid Center in San Antonio. I respect Pete so much for his dedication to doing the military justice, and it's also the reason that the military was so supportive. Several dozen of these wounded warriors served as extras during the company's one-day shoot at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a rehabilitation facility in San Antonio that treats amputees and burn victims. It is located next to the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston and was specifically built to provide care for U.S. servicemen and women who have returned from military operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan. ``A big part of Sam is her relationship with Mick [U.S. Army Colonel Gregory D. Gadson's character] and how they struggle with one another and become a huge source of strength to one another as they go through an emotional and physical arc, Decker reflects. ``I talked with these sol