Actors for `Black Hawk Down' trained at Fort Benning

FORT BENNING - Eight years after entering Mogadishu&#39;s ``hornet&#39;s nest&#39;&#39; to aid Army Rangers and other U.S. Special Operations troops near a downed Black Hawk helicopter, Staff Sgt. Reese Teakell and a handful of other Rangers had a new mission. <br> <br> They were assigned to teach a group of actors how to behave like Rangers for their roles in the film ``Black Hawk Down&#39;&#39; about the battle in Somalia. <br> <br> About 20 actors, including Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett and Jason Isaacs, spent a week last year at Fort Benning under the direction of the Ranger Training Detachment for the 75th Regiment. <br> <br> The soldiers were not starstruck. <br> <br> ``I didn&#39;t even know who Ewan McGregor was until Day Three,&#39;&#39; Teakell said. ``He was that Obi-Wan Kenobi guy in the last `Star Wars&#39; movie, right?&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Teakell said he and his colleagues knew they were not going to turn the actors into Rangers in a week. <br> <br> ``Rangers are confident. They have a certain persona. When they make a decision, they make it with authority,&#39;&#39; Teakell said. ``We had to squeeze five to nine years of experience into one week.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The actors assumed the names and ranks of the Rangers they portrayed and were treated like Rangers. They trained as a Ranger platoon, undergoing rigorous physical training through mountains and woods and learning how to fire weapons. <br> <br> ``A lot of time you see a &#39;John Wayne&#39; just point and shoot without looking through the sight,&#39;&#39; Teakell said. ``That just doesn&#39;t work.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He acknowledged the emotional jolt he felt the first time he heard one of the actors call out the name of Sgt. Dominick Pilla, played by Danny Hoch. Pilla, a friend of Teakell&#39;s, died in the battle. <br> <br> ``The last time I saw someone wearing that name was Oct. 3, 1993,&#39;&#39; Teakell said. <br> <br> ``Black Hawk Down&#39;&#39; goes into wide release on Friday. When he and other Rangers got a preview last week, the mood was somber and reverent, Teakell said. <br> <br> He said Rangers were taken aback by the ``realistic intensity&#39;&#39; of the Battle of Mogadishu. But, he said they chuckled and then tired of the actors&#39; repeated usage of ``hoo-ah&#39;&#39; in the film. <br> <br> The term is an affirmative common among regular U.S. Army soldiers. Rangers don&#39;t use it, preferring ``roger,&#39;&#39; instead. <br> <br> He said it was ``unsettling&#39;&#39; to watch Pilla die again and that it brought back mental pictures he had ``put away in storage for awhile.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Even so, Teakell said he has put Mogadishu behind him. <br> <br> ``In order to do my job, I had to settle those feelings a long time ago,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Teakell gave the movie a ``thumbs-up&#39;&#39; and said the actors did a good job portraying Rangers. <br> <br> ``The world knows so little of what and who the Rangers are. That is why it was so important to us to portray to the actors who we really are,&#39;&#39; he said.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/199997