R Lee Ermey
”God has a hard-on for Marines because we kill everything we see! God was here before the Marine Corps, so you can give your heart to Jesus but your ass belongs to the Corps!” The film? Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. The man ranting? Character actor Ronald Lee Ermey. There was a time, however, when Ermey wasn’t just spraying Matthew Modine with invective. A genuine US Marine drill instructor, Ermey had been hired as a technical adviser but made such an impression on Kubrick that he was hired on the spot. As if to prove that he wasn’t simply full of hot air, ‘The Gunny’ responded to a mid-shoot jeep accident that broke six of his ribs by remaining conscious - and then flashing the vehicle’s headlights until someone stopped to help.
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