captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> i think the 27th. if i cut down the trees behind the stable i have to discount

the horse. >> do they sell arabic horses? >> it's not arabic horses, okay, it's arabian. >> arabic. >> you're from new york, okay? >> how much is an arabic horse, arabian horse? how much is an arabian horse. >> no less than $15,000. >> that's a hell of a wedding present. >> rose: "lone survivor" is based on the best selling memoir of marcus luttrell, a former navy seal. the the story is of a failed 2005 mission to capture or kill a taliban leader that resulted in the death of 19 u.s. soldiers. "variety" calls it perhaps the most grueling and sustained american combat picture since "black hawk down." here is the trailer for "lone survivor." >> i'm petty officer. can you say it? >> mr. patton, please >> been around the world twice, talked to everyone once. there ain't nothing i can't do, no sky too high.

i've learned a lot of lessons in my life. never shoot a large man with a small caliber bullet. moderation is for cowards, i'm a lover, i'm a fighter, i'm a navy seal diver. >> listen up! red wing's a go. >> bad guy, senior taliban commander. killed 20 marines last week. 20. >> going in with a four-man team matheson, myself, marcus. >> that's a lot more than ten guys, that's an army. >> go, go! >> it's compromised. >> this is spartan 0-1 radio check. is your radio working? >> we have two options: one, let him go, roll the dice. >> second they that they run down there we have 200 on our backs. >> two, we terminate him. >> we cannot do that.

>> i don't care. >> i care about you. i care about you, i care about you. not killing kids. it's not a go. >> we're going to cut them loose and we're going home. >> roger that, sir. >> you see this? the >> i tried. i tried with everything possible. >> i'm going to die for my country. >> we're good, right?

>> you are never out of the sight. >> rose: joining me now peter berg, the director, mark wahlberg who stars as marcus luttrell and marcus luttrell himself, the author and advisor on the film. i'm pleased to have all of them here at this table. here is the national best seller the paper back "lone survivor, the eyewitness account of operation wed wing and the heroes of seal team." let me start with the idea of how you found this and what it is that you wanted to do and what you wanted to make a movie and how did you approach marcus? >> i was working on another film about four years ago, and my partner came to me while we were filming and said "you have to read this book called "lone survivor." i wasn't in a position to focus on it and i said "i'll read it when i'm done." he said "you've got to read it now. right now. this second." at lunch i went into the trailer

started reading it, locked the trailer door, finished the book and heard there was this guy marcus luttrell in hollywood taking meetings, i said "put me on the list." got to the marcus spent time with him, showed him my work, we had a long dinner, couple beers. at the end of that dinner he said "you can do it." and i think more than anything i wanted to give people the opportunity which marcus does so well in the book to kind of get off our busy cycles, turn the phones off, turn if t computers off and pay respects to these men who are more than statistics, who i think in so many ways the best and brightest we have to offer. they're giving their lives and i wanted to give a larger audience the chance to have the experience i had reading it. and that was to honor and understand what these men go through. >> rose: marcus, why did you select him?

>> when we met down on the set of "hancock" like he was talking about, he told me a little bit about himself it was more over -- because of the fact that he was kind of a walk the walk instead of a talk the talk. instead of sitting there and telling me about how good he was and what he could do he said "i got a movie coming out called the kingdom, i'd like you to see it. watch that and go from there." so i went into the theater and watched it and after seeing it, his ae attention to -- believe it or not, i didn't even focus -- i couldn't have told you what the movie was about. the main theme i was just paying attention to the -- his attention to detail and every little aspect of the film from the way the guys moved and shoot and how the enemy performed throughout that film and that's what sold it. >> rose: you wanted to pay

respect to the people who died on the mission? that's a question. >> was that has a question? >> rose: yeah. >> i thought you were telling me. >> rose: (laughs) no. i thought for a moment you might think that. (laughs) >> roger that, i got you. no, the book was written -- the navy came to me and said hey, we're going to tell this story because there were so many different versions flying around and a family member would call me up and say, hey, why didn't you fell me about this? i didn't know this happened to my son and i was totefully the dark about it. i said i don't have any idea what you are talking about. it was obviously some rumor. so the powers that be in my community say hey, we're going to declassify this operation and we're going to put this story out and you're the ones that got -- helped me out finding patrick robinson, the lawyers, all the stuff needed to be to get it

done. i mean, i was a navy seal, i'm not a writer by any means and once the book came out and did what it did then obviously hollywood came knocking on the door. and it was one of those situations as to whether -- an ultimatum was dropped on us. they said we're going to do this movie with or without y'all so you can help us out to make it as authentic as possible or let us go with what we think is right. and obviously we wanted to make sure for the families' sake and the guys that didn't make it off the mountain that it was as authentic as possible. >> rose: why did you want to be a navy feel? >> because somebody told me that i couldn't do it. >> rose: that right? >> yes, sir. >> rose: said you don't have what it takes? >> that's right. >> rose: and you said "i'll show you"? >> that's right. >> rose: what was the hardest part about it? >> the hardest part about being -- actually, truth be told is not becoming a seal, the hardest part is staying one.

most people don't realize that going through the training, sure it's -- as hard as it sounds and we lose more people, the attrition rate is incredibly high. >> rose: you mean who can't pass the physical and mental tests necessary to become a seal. >> correct. and once you get into the seal teams everything ramps up 110%. i mean, your responsibilities and not only to the team but to your own departments and it's a long explanation but overall there's -- going through training and everything like that you have your class and you can maneuver around but when you're at the team and you have responsibilities not only to yourself but to the community you can't drop the ball on that. people die. >> rose: choices have consequences. >> naturally. >> rose: so how did you get involved? >> pete called me and we had

been friendly for a while and talked about doing other projects and said "you want to make this movie?" and i said "absolutely." before reading the script. i thought what a great opportunity as an actor to play a flashy role and once i read it i realized the expectations, the responsibility, i started looking deep down and saying can i do this? am i up to the task? and i thought you know what? i know why pete wants to make the movie, i know why everybody wants to be involved and i want to be involved in something more important than me as an actor. it's the only time where i've been in a situation like this where it was not about us. every time i've seen the movie before q&a, i can't critique the movie the way i would normally, any other movie i've been involved with whether as an actor or producer. all i can think about is what marcus and those guys went through. >> rose: that what you want to accomplish? what happened on that mountain

that day? >> yeah. that was my primary goal st. book is a tremendous book and the three main areas in my opinion, three chapters to the book and one was the training and let people know that navy seal training and the selection process is very intense and very difficult. marcus spends time describing that. that was its own movie. the second part was the actual operation. what these four guys experienced and what the helicopter -- the rescue helicopter experienced and the third part was what was happening back home with marcus' mom and the sort of vigil that was being kept and that was an incredible story and i kind of had to just choose -- as a writer to pick one. and even by just focusing on the operation primarily even that was tricky because it was -- like marcus said, there was so much that went on during that five-day period that marcus went through and these guys went to i

had to condense that to something that felt satisfying to marcus and to his seal community that also works as a film for people who know nothing about it. >> rose: also you're making a movie which anybody who pays ademocratic national convention know what the story is. so you're making a movie in which we know what the end is. >> yes. we know what the end is and also were mark and i and the other actors were making a film that -- were killed and those men have moms and dads and brothers and sisters and some are married and the navy seal community, we knew that those guys and those families were going to be watching this film and that -- there would come a day when the lights would come up in the theater and we would have to look these parents in the eye mark not only as a producer but an actor and we would know whether we had gotten

it right. that was something we were very aware of when we were making the film. >> rose: you told me he got it right. >> yes, sir. >> rose: tell me about the mission. >> which part. >> rose: why you undertook the mission. who -- what were your -- what was your assignment and how did you folks carry it out and how it ran into trouble. >> our mission was a special reconnaissance with sniper overwatch. we were sent out to capture and kale high-ranking individual in bin laden's army. he had his own militia at his disposal. finally they slid him across our desk, ramped up to get him. we set up shop, started to do our thing got compromised by some get to herders, we turned those guys loose, about an hour later we were walked on by large taliban militia, gun fight insued, about three hours into

it. all three of my teammates were dead and 16 more on a shin nick helicopter had died. a 12-year-old boy shot an r.p.g. in the back of it. >> rose: a 12-year-old boy. >> yes, sir. >> rose: there is a consideration, after you know you have been discovered and the mission is at wlafk do you do about the people who have discovered you? do you kill them? do you let them go? what are the options that you have and why do you make the decisions that you do? here's a part of that. >> 01909. >> eyes down. eyes down. eyes down! >> is your radio working? >> he's going to curse us. >> it's just afghanistan, that's all. >> we got three options. one. >> we let him go, hike up,

probably be found in less than an hour. two, we tie him up, hike out, roll the dice. he'll probably be eaten by wolves or freeze to death. the three, we terminate the compromise. >> we cannot do that. >> rose: tough decision. >> yes, sir. >> rose: in the end, why did you make that decision? >> we ran through everything that happened up there, ultimately that was the best course of action for what we would have rather gotten to an engagement with 200 taliban militia than to get it wrong in that situation, eliminating the threat. and in the movie, it's reversed. in the movie they go to walk up first and then shepherds and in reality what happened was the shepherds walked up on us first

and when we were dealing with that situation that's when they go to walk up on us. and that changed the dynamic because they don't wait on the shepherds, they just kept walking up the trail and they eventually wind up back down in the a village and then the whole -- everybody comes back looking for them. the position that we were in to overlook the particular village had a limited line of sight to where we could see every single house in the village. plus, there's no shepherds. the guy we were looking for was in the village, he's going to know something up and he's gone so all of those variables started combining into one big thing and ultimately we played -- we rolled the dice and that's what we went with, to turn them loose and see what happens. >> rose: see what will happen not know what will happen, righting? >> right. >> and the worst thing happened.

in 30 minutes. >> best estimation 30 minutes to an hour, probably. we relocated in our initial position. i wasn't on watch. i pulled my hat down to get some rest so but 30 minutes to an hour is probably the right time. >> rose: and when you see that you're trying to save your life and your friends' lives. everybody's trying to do the same thing. not compromise the mission, save lives. you know the odds. take me to that moment. >> it's just one of those situations where you know that -- in the back of our head it's the perfect situation for a navy seal. it's the one we dream about getting into. it's the one where we're outnumbered, outgunned and we get to put our skills to the test. >> rose: employ everything you've ever learned. >> absolutely. i have people come up to me all the time and tell me "i can't

believe it, i'm so sorry." don't be sorry. i trained my whole life a.d dreamed of being in this particular situation, in the one that you hear stories about and that you read about and on regardless of the outcome, people often talk about the deaths of the guys on the helicopter, that's a different story. not being able to get their boots on and fight is a tragedy. it is, truly. but as for mikey and ax and danny dying on the mountain that day, they died a warrior's death. they died the way that -- a proud death, with their boots on fighting. they didn't come home and die of cancer and old age and someone -- in a rest home somewhere people trying to take care of them and this that and the other. they died fighting with their brothers do what they loved. >> rose: we'll talk about the movie more. but do you learn that in training? >> yes, sir. through years and years of training and all the situations that we're in, that we go

through. combat deployments and everything that bond that we have it gets tighter and tighter and tighter. >> rose: it is hard to leave? >> absolutely. it's like abandoning one of your kids, probably. >> he wants to get out there right now. >> rose: yeah, i mean i -- i think about it all the time when i wake up in the morning, before i go to bed at night. during the day i see something, hear something, just the overall feeling in my gut that i'm missing something and not out there with my buddies. >> rose: he helped you get into character? was there a constant conversation about you or that doesn't help you? >> i just -- i didn't want to make him walk me through every bit of what happened you know? i had the source material but he was definitely there trained with us everyday. made us look like the real deal. >> we knew that this movie would be seen by marcus' community,

not just the seal community but the military at large, particularly the special ops community, the tell delta guy, the green berets, the force recon and the marines. the air force, the guys who rescued marcus. we knew these guys were going to watch this film and that's what we were thinking about and that's why we trained so hard. not to try and in any way be what they are, i don't think any -- there was never a discussion well i'm going to become a navy seal, train like a navy seal but i'm going to learn, try to do everythingic to imitate it and get it so we can >> we did every single thing when they told us. >> rose: just to hear him talk about it, this is what i wanted to be, this is what i trained for. every navy seal member wants to have an opportunity like that >> we call it chasing the dragon. >> rose: chasing the dragon? >> yes, sir. people who -- seals spend their

whole lives -- some seals when there's not a war going on or something like that, they spend their whole career chasing that one, that adrenaline, that rush, that opportunity to go out and employ their skill set and those of us fortunate enough to do that, it's a feeling that you can't suppress at all. and with mark and the other actors -- when i was on set i considered myself ans a set to the guys -- the other actors, foster and hirsch and kitsch because they didn't have their guys to there to help them out. i was there for marcus. if he needed anything, if he needed to lean on me for anything. but he's professional. he didn't have to ask me a question, he'd just sit there while we're doing the filming fori'm working with the other actors i'd look over and he was looking at me or he'd watch me and watch my mannerisms. he didn't have to be me. he just had to play a seal out

there because when it boils down to it, yes, most seals have a special skill set and they're unique in their own way but when you put us together as a whole, there are no individuals. so it's nothing that -- i was never on him all the the time. the i was like this guy is the pro at what he does. the same thing with pete, he's the pro, i'm not. i'm kind of just -- i'm learning. >> rose: it wasn't his first movie. >> yes, sir. so it was definitely -- the learning curve was pretty steep. >> rose: take a look. this is another scene about the decision that had to be made on the mountain. here it is. >> shah killed 20 marines last week. 20. we let him go, 20 more will die next week. 40 more the week after that. our job is to stop shah. why do these men have the right to dictate how we do our job?

>> rules of engagement says we cannot touch them. >> i understand. and i don't care. i care about you. i care about you. i care about you. i care about you. >> we can't do it they are unarmed prisoners. >> this is not a vote. this is what we're gonna do. this op is compromised. we're going to cut them loose and we're going to make this peak. when we make this peak, you're going to get comes up, we're going to call for extract and we're going home. >> roger that, sir. >> roger that. >> rose: and that was the belief the moment you made that decision. we do this. this is what we have to do. everybody that's watching this at this moment, when they all say "what would you do different now?" >> i'm sure it's a half and half. everybody's watching this saying "i would have killed them." really? how many people have you killed? >> rose: exactly. >> it's that easy for you huh,

monday morning quarter back. >> you got one more minute of screaming, a 60-year-old woman at one screening stood up and said "i just would have killed them! why didn't you kill them, marcus?" and there was a very well-dressed reasonable woman at his screening and she just -- remember? >> oh, yeah! the >> oh, man. >> i mean, it's situations that we get in that aren't in the manual. you can't think of everything. war is not black and white, you can't write everything down that's ever happened in every engagement so we can study it. you're going to get a situation if you do it long enough that has never happened before. this has happened before. i've studied the after-action report. i've done a green beret squad, another marine squad and i think another army squad and every time -- >> rose: they make the same decision in every time?

>> yes, and every time somebody died. >> rose: so every time they said "we vent have to let them go because we don't kill civilians." and they let them go. and the after-action report says somebody got killed because they made that decision. >> yes, sir. one of the teams was a little girl walked on him and they turned her loose. it was getting dark and if i remember correctly-- it was a long time ago-- but people would be looking for a little girl. so they turned her loose and she ran straight back and then that i mean they came out on top of them pretty quick. >> rose: you did what you wanted to do in this movie, didn't you? >> i believe so, yes. the fact that he hasn't hurt me. (laughter) we're still friends. >> rose: tell me what the themes of this are as you saw it. >> i never thought about war. i think it's very pro-soldier. not pro-war but very pro-soldier. it's a tribute to every person who over's ever walked into a recruiting office and signed up

to defend our great nation. and i wanted to be a part of that. i thought it was a very, very special story that needed to be told and i wanted to be a part of it. i'm honored to sit next to marcus. >> rose: as everybody would be. so what happened after this? >> after, what sir? >> rose: after the attack and you lost your comrades. >> i was pretty banged up. injured pretty bad. >> rose: leg was broken. >> yes, sir, shot, frag everywhere. broken my back. i just started crawling through the mountains. the next day, the next morning i got rescued by an afghan village. a couple of villageers found me. at first i thought they were trying to kill me and it turned out they were trying to -- they helped me out. they saved me and brought shiba the village, rescued me. >> rose: so without them you probably would have not made it? >> if the taliban wouldn't have found me i would have died

anyways. i would have succumbed to my wounds and then obviously there was the taliban that -- because i had been in a gun fight that morning so they were -- the problem was that they knew how many of the guys in the initial fight and they were missing one. so they weren't going to stop looking for me. luckily enough, when i got picked up by the village, they brought me, it was -- one, it was good because they saved my life by doctoring me up and using their medical supplies on me. however, the taliban also found out where i was and they -- once they circled the village, that's when all hell broke loose for the next four and a half days. >> rose: washington has made a decision to leave afghanistan. does that trouble you? >> i'm not a politician i didn't know that. >> rose: they're evacuating, obviously, in 2014. there's a debate now as to

whether there will be anybody left there. karzai is basically playing a tough role saying -- as to whether they will allow 10,000 american soldiers to remain in afghanistan. >> that's above my pay grade, sir. >> rose: so here we are, this is a remarkable film. it's an extraordinary story and as you said it's about the men, who everyday face the question of life or death but are doing what they want to do. >> nobody's twisting their arm telling them they have to come in and make this decision and do this. hats out to everybody who's out there carrying the way picking up rifles. >> like most men, you want to be in the game, you know? you don't want to be on the bench. but when you get in the game, when you get hit in the mouth, that's when you decide if you want that or you want to go back and do something else. >> rose: you'll know then.

>> absolutely. >> everybody thinks that -- i mean, you see it -- i'm the same way. i'm a prime example of it. i grew up reading books on military and combat and the navy seals and watching movies on combat and you see these guys coming in and the guns, the bullets are flying, people are blowing up and it's just -- it looks like it's the coolest, the sexiest thing in the world you want to do that. i mean, in my opinion. maybe i'm a little different. but there are guys like me. otherwise there wouldn't be a seal team. but the first time you get shot or watch one of your buddies die it's completely different than what you think it is. >> rose: how is it different? >> it's real. the screams are deafening and they get in your head and you'll never forget it. you'll never get it out of there. i remember one situation we were in, we were doing a sniper

overwatch mission and our job was to protect these army guys while they were building this -- we'd taken over a building, they were building basically a compound for themselves to occupy and live in. our job as snipers was to protect the roads while they were in front of the buildings and in the courtyards and i think it was day four we were there and this kid was up on the roof and instead of moving with a purpose he was just kind of standing around right in the doorway. and right when he took a step to go into the doorway to get off the roof he got shot. it came in through his back right above his right butt cheek and came out behind his knee. and the way he was screaming i could hear it -- you could hear it through the whole building the way he was screaming. you never hear anything -- you'll never hear anything like that in your entire life. it's a distinct sound. and i remember walking down to every floor in the building, because there was a lot of young

kids in there and 18, 19-year-old kids, some of them were fresh into it, there was their first trip into combat and i remember telling them and i said "you listen to that. you listen to him scream you'll never forget it but what it will make you is move with a purpose, it will remind you that this is real and you will die out here in you slip up one second and don't think that there's somebody out there that wants you dead. and it was an eye opening for a lot of people out there, especially new ones. the fish, so to speak. >> rose: is that what you what you call them the fish? >> uh-huh. i'll never forget that kid screaming. he was young, too. i think he was 18. i mean, this -- full of piss and vinegar like every 18-year-old wanting to get out there. >> rose: and then the realities hit. >> that sniper got him.

it was a sniper shot, too. and that in itself is so demoralizing. we use that as an asset in the american military, there's nothing more demoralizing or scarier than a sniper bullet hitting the guy next to you. the guy sitting at the table and one guy drops dead. you don't hear anything, you don't see anything, you just lay there. that will freeze you that. will immobilize you. to your core. when they turn that around on us and use it against us, man, it's -- it's -- it's pretty real. >> rose: is there ever his tan any >> sure. people -- i mean, absolutely. i guess i should have touched on that, too. there is. you see hit in the movies when guys are all gung-ho and going through the training. the good thing about our training is it's so long. you have situations that you get in that you realize that if you cannot handle that.

but people get out there and when the bullets are flying and people are dying and blood is on them and you see people trying to crawl in their helmet. i've actually heard somebody screaming for their mother. i thought that was fake. i thought that was something somebody put in t.v. that when you hear -- >> rose: you don't believe it's fake now. >> it's very real. and i think that that's -- that's the ultimate form of fear when you see somebody in the fetal position crying and screaming for their mother. that's the ultimate safety blanket, isn't it? your mother's arms. and they can't get there and they're either going to die or when it's over they're gone. they're never the same. you can't have -- you can't put somebody like that back on the line. >> rose: is fear always there or is fear a word you don't snow. >> the fear will do one of

things to you. it will shut you down or it will make you go so hard in the paint that they're going to wish that they didn't come at you. >> rose: it's an energizer. paralyzes or energizes. >> yes, sir. but it there's and if you talk to anybody who says they're not afraid or -- it's there. i wouldn't call it fear but the butterflies, the anticipation kind of a deal, getting into a fistfight or something like that a lump in your throat, butterflies, your hands shake, that kind of a deal. that's -- right, time go. >> rose: it's an extraordinary story, marcus, the book is called "lone survivor." the film is called "lone survivor" and in my judgment you had the right guy playing it, too. back in a moment. stay with us.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hi. do you have any cars available. >> yeah, we have a blue one and a red one. >> i'll take the red one. >> rose: i am pleased to have ben stiller back at this table. welcome. >> nice to see you, charlie. >> rose: walter mittty. here's what the dictionary says.

"a commonplace unadventurous person who seeks to escape from reality through daydreaming." that your walter mitt glee >> yeah, definitely. that was the basis for the movie and the original short story. it's funny that it's become a term in the dictionary. james thurber wrote the story in 1939 and i think, yeah, it's -- that's the jumping off point for the movie for us and i guess it was also for the original movie, too. >> rose: it's a movie that's been in the making for a while? >> yeah, there was the original movie which danny kaye starred in in 1947 and then ever since then they were trying to sort of remake it. and for a lot of years trying to do a non-musical version of that movie. and i'd seen a script as an actor about eight or nine years ago that i didn't want to do but then steve conrad, who's a really interesting screenwriter,

took this new approach with it which ended up being the movie we made. >> rose: you're directing also? >> i am, yes. (laughs) i was. i did. (laughs) >> rose: just want to make this clear. now, did you say to them "i see your script, i like what steve's done and i'm in, however--"? >> you know what it is? i was stent script with an actor and i loved the script and the tone of it because i read the earlier version and this was taking a whole new approach and there was taking a modern and real and emotionally grounded and -- soy -- and i saw as a movie i thought oh, this could be a great film and as a director i started thinking about it even though they weren't asking know direct it. and then we kept talking about it and talking about it and eventually they got the idea that i was interested in directing it. >> rose: tell me who walter mitt gee for you in your film. >> he's a guy who lives alone.

he works at "life" magazine. in our movie "life" magazine is just going out of business and becoming an online photo archive and he takes care of all of the photographs there. he's sort of the point person for the photographers who are out in the field and he categorizes negatives. it's very meticulous work and he cares about it and he doesn't have much of a life outside of that. he's sort of -- he lives in his head. he's daydreaming all the time. there's a woman at work that kristen wiig plays who he likes and he can't figure out how to connect with her, how to talk to her. and one of these negatives that he's supposed to take care of gets sent by sean o'connell which is a character that shawn penn plays -- >> rose: who's a great international photographer. >> yes, who's a very -- a lot of creative integrity and still shoots on film and doesn't have a cell phone. >> rose: but has disappeared. >> yes. he sends one photo to walter "this should be the cover of the last issue." and wanter can't find it.

so he's sort of forced to go out into the world and find sean and find the negative and sort of take a chance he's never taken before in his life. >> rose: and guess who he takes with him? >> well -- who? (laughs) >> rose: in his head. >> yes, he takes cheryl with him kristen's character and she is the motivation of his muse so it's him trying to really connect with her and in doing so trying to connect with himself like an aspect of thaipls he sort of pressed down over the years and not dealt with. >> rose: this directing thing is something you like. >> yeah, i love it. it's my favorite thing in the world to do. >> because of sdplol >> well, maybe. i think directing is about sort of creating you're creating the world in the movie overall than you do as an actor. i don't think as an actor you want to have much control. you want to think in that way. instead of thinking when you're

working i think directing is much more stepping back and more inpolitical and when you're acting you want to be in the moment. >> rose: my sense is you're different a lot of people i know who want to direct because they say what i'm doing now as an actor may not be so hot a few years from now. i may not be in such demand so therefore i'll have this other thing. you seem to be to be more in love with the other thing. >> yeah, i've always been in love with the other thing and the acting was happening also and i was interested in it, too. but for me in the beginning when i started out i was directing and acting, sometimes directing and -- >> rose: in your film. >> yeah. so the first movie i directed was 20 years ago and it's always -- it's different -- you know, it's -- sometimes it's been that people have wanted to have me as a director and other times as an actor then acting took off and it became the primary thing. >> you once said directing while acting is kind of like being walter mitty. you're here but you're not here.

>> you're definitely living in your head. that's what film making is. you can say that about acting, also. you're creating a world -- from the beginning of of the process when you're visualizing and previsualizing and trying to get this idea about how you see it into the world and make it a reality you make it in the world of the movie so you're constantly thinking about it. then you film it it's all your doing then when you're editing i'm always thinking about how to recut a scene or playing the movie in my head all the time. >> rose: marty scorsese was saying for him the joy is to be in the editing room. that's where he gets to make the movie. >> yeah. when you can make it there it's almost like you earn your way there. you want to get there with as many choices as possible. so all the time you spend

shooting, for me i'm always thinking about those choices that i want they have no the editing room takes, angles so you can have that fun of putting it together so there's? so many people involved through process, hundreds and hundreds of people that when you finally get to the editing room, it's just you and the editor and you can find it together. >> i want to show several times where walter is engaged in daydreaming. here is a point -- this is our clip number two where he witnesses a volcanic eruption. here it is. (sirens blaring) >> what's going on? where is everybody?

(yelling in foreign language) >> what does that mean? >> erection! >> erection? >> yes, now. >> eruption! >> eruption? >> yes! (screaming) >> go faster! go faster! >> rose: just tell me about that scene. >> it's a simple little scene.

(laughter) that's at a point where walter is on this quest to find sean and he gets very close and that's actually sean on top of the bi-plane trying to get a picture of that volcano and walter's been trying to get to him so he just misses him. he knows he's up there and he's just missed him. >> rose: you grew up in a show business family. >> yes. >> rose: and it is said-- and correct me if i'm wrong-- that your father loved comedy. your mother wasn't necessarily so much in love with it. she wanted to go do other things but they both became identified because of comedy. >> that's true. my dad wanted to be a standup comedian. >> rose: and your mother wanted to be a serious actress. >> yeah, and she was a very good serious actress and they were starving and living in the west village and needed to make a living so they came up with the idea to start a comedy team. i think they were always conflicting feelings about comedy in the household. >> rose: for you, too? >> well, i think growing up around it i saw the work that was involved and i saw that they

had a really strong work ethic but for me i was always interested in movies. i wanted to be a director and i separated that out from the comedy and not until i got older did i start to embrace comedy when i could find my own sensibility or things that i thought were funny that i guess generationly. >> rose: has it given you insight in terms of how to direct comedy? >> well, yeah. i think actors need to be given the space to be who they are and comedy is such a -- it's a very subjective thing. you can't tell somebody how to be funny. i think you have to just be an audience as a director when you're directing comedy. that's what i react to is watching something and making me laugh, it's very simple. i get it, i'm laughing, i'm enjoying it. i want to encourage them do that more. >> rose: i just had will ferrell here and he was talking about how he writes and just the sense of sitting there, the fun that is and the process that is as to

how they find each other so funny. >> you have to have fun when you're making those movies and writing that comedy. you have to make each other laugh. i look at movies that -- you know, the one i've done as a director, comedys where i'll watch a scene and remember how that scene came to be, just u.s. goofing around in the office, there's a scene in zoolander where owen wilson and i are trying to get into this computer and you kind of turn into these apes and these primordial men hitting the computer and i remember being in my office with owen and he says "it would be funny if we start hitting the computer like apes" and there it is like n a movie. you can't overthink it when you're doing it. if i'd thought about it i never would have done it. >> rose: zoolander became a hit film after it was released. in other words, it wasn't a hit, it was later? >> yeah, it got discovered later. it was definitely not either a critical or commercial success.

>> rose: how do you explain that >> the movie came out about ten days after 9/11 so it was a strange time to release a movie. ultimately i think movies that are their own thing, they either have a life or they don't. people find them. my movies usually -- when they first come out people are not knocking down -- they're not knocking down the door with the critical praise. >> rose: but if you look back could you predict the ones that did as well as they did or it simply impossible to know how an audience will react? >> no idea, really. in terms of commercial? >> rose: yeah. >>. no because every time you put a movie out there you hope people will see it so at tend of the

day you have to make a movie that you believe in and love. because there is no -- you know, there's no guarantee how it's going to -- >> rose: speaking of quotes, this is from robert downey, jr. "it can't be easy being ben" he says. "the anger he has comes from the pressure and the pressure comes from knowing he's like chaplain. doing a woman of paris which nobody in hollywood wanted him to do." >> jesus! >> rose: have you read that before? >> no, but i think i want to cry! can i have a recording of you reading that when i know go to bed at night? beautiful! (laughs) >> rose: is he a good friend?

>> he's a good friend. >> rose: is he politically analytical about you? >> he's a super passionate guy, kind of an insane genius. he's a genius. i'm not saying that facetiously, he's a genius. >> rose: and he's the highest paid actor in hollywood. >> he's probably the biggest movie star in the world. but he's also one of the most talented actors ever. and he comes from a very visceral place. and he's very verbal. you know, i loved working with him because he has that -- you know, that passion and he's really, really smart and he cares about the work and he has so much emotion in what he does. everything comes out of his place is so human with him. >> rose: does he see a lot of shrinks? >> i don't know about that. but i think after that i'm going to go see a shrink. (laughs) >> rose: after this film is made, where do you go? what's the next thing you want to do?

>> well, it's -- for me it's about finding that next project as a director. >> rose: as a director? >> well, i will act in something probably in between but i mean it's always about trying to find the next movie as a director and then the time that you put in, sometimes -- on "tropic thunder" it took about seven or eight years get that off the ground. this movie has been about three years working on it. so it takes time. but when you find something you're passionate about that's the big thing. that's what takes time. >> rose: and you're passionate about this? >> oh, very, yeah. >> rose: was it you that went up to gene hackman because you admired him and said to him -- i'm not sure which movie. maybe "poseidon adventure" you know where i'm coming from? >> yeah. >> rose: and said to him how much you admired his performance and he said "kid, it's a money job." (laughs)

>> i just want you reading all these quotes to me, charlie. >> rose: "this is your life" or "actor's studio" >> bedtime stories. yeah. no -- yes! i was doing royal tenenbaums with him, i was playing his son and i told him -- because i'd seen poseidon adventure about 25 times. >> rose: why? >> when i was a kid it was one of my favorite movies when it came out. i loved it. they was lead in it. they here in the boat it turns upside down. shelley winters. >> rose: i remember. >> she got an academy award. >> rose: earnest borgnine was in that. >> pamela souix martin. ernest borgnine. yeah, it's funny. the things that affect you when you're younger, the movies that you see, they affect you at a point in your life -- they do depending on where you're at and for him it was a money job but it doesn't mean he wasn't great in it. >> rose: what would be your money job? >> oh, god. there've probably been a couple

over the years that i won't mention but, you know, sometimes you're -- you know, in retrospect i think -- you know, i feel like he might have called that a money job but he was good in it and i think you always try to do your best in something sometimes you can look at in the retrospect and you say "well, i might have talked myself into that a little bit." >> rose: clint eastwood has said and i think george clooney has as well that, you know, one for you and one for me. this is for you, i go to the studios, hope it makes a zillion dollars and then one for me and you won't quarrel about it. >> rose: there are compromises. i think what you are trying to do is always have the freedom to make the movies you want to make and that is -- the economics of the business do kind of -- they determine that a lot of time so it's trying to navigate through that. >> rose: a movie directed by ben

stiller. here it is. >> what are you going to do this weekend? >> um, let's say. i bathed in arctic mountain water while my latin lover recited verse to me. >> wow! >> actually, i waited for my refridge fridge rateor repairman who never came. >> oh, sorry. i'm going to call you later. >> okay. >> the ice tombs like a woman. and the water. >> i'm cheryl. where have you been? >> bathing in the lakes. >> i'd like to climb your hair, test that out. >> perhaps i can contact you, possibly through my poetry poetry falcon? >> poetry falcon. i like that. >> do you think if i hit him with a paper clip would he move? >> i don't know. >> do it. >> hello.

i actually threw a toner box at him once. >> did he move? >> no, i missed. >> good story. >> ground control to major tom. can you hear me, major tom? oh! wow. moving on. >> rose: congratulations. >> thank you, charlie. thank you for joining us. see you next time. captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

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