MOVIE

STORY BEHIND the

Anything you can tell me about the making of Full Metal Jacket? –L.

As foul-mouthed drill sergeant Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Ronald Lee Ermey, drew on real-life experiences. The Vietnam veteran had enrolled in the US Marines as a teenager and served as a drill instructor. Stanley Kubrick encouraged him to improvise his own salty lines.

“I’d say 50% of his dialogue, specifically the insult stuff, came from Lee,” said the director.

A car crash during production left Ermey incapacitated for more than four months. His vehicle skidded off the road and he broke all his ribs down one side.