Olyphant and the "Third Rock" Kid Join Phillippe In "Stop Loss"

by | September 8, 2006 | Comments

Director Kimberly Peirce ("Boys Don’t Cry") has a few more guys on her roster for the soldier drama "Stop Loss," also starring Ryan Phillippe. Thesps Timothy Olyphant and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have joined the cast; all three play Iraq returnees dealing differently with military life.

Peirce is directing from a screenplay she co-wrote with Mark Richard. The recently named "Stop Loss" refers to a military retention plan that prevents soldiers from leaving their posts once their volunteer contracts are up, a move that forced thousands of returning U.S. enlistees to extend their service involuntarily in recent years.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

"Stop Loss" centers on Brandon (Ryan Phillippe), a soldier who returns home to Texas and is called to duty again in Iraq through the military’s "stop-loss" procedure. Olyphant has been cast as Lt. Col. Boot Miller, a no-nonsense military man who, serving as Brandon’s commanding officer, welcomes the troops home from Iraq but then orders their re-enlistment. Gordon-Levitt will play one of the soldiers who returns to a failing marriage and seems to be having the toughest time readjusting to civilian life.

"Stop Loss" also stars Abbie Cornish and Channing Tatum, and is an expected 2007 release from Paramount Pictures.