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Ryan Phillippe’s Unorthodox Training Methods For ‘Shooter,’ Show Renewed

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 21:59 PST, Feb 15, 2017

Ryan Phillippe made use of meditation techniques to perfect his role in Shooter, USA Network’s new television series that is based on a novel by Stephen Hunter. Phillippe plays an ex-marine sniper who is wrongly implicated in a conspiracy to assassinate the President.

Earlier, Mark Wahlberg had played the same character in a 2007 movie of the same name. The plot of the movie centers on the sniper’s attempts to clear his name and expose the conspirators who framed him. Phillippe believes that meditation has helped him to get into the skin of his character as a sniper is required to remain focused. According to TV3, the Cruel Intentions actor spoke about how Zen meditation helps a person improve his concentration and focus.

“The technique behind a sniper is very zen, very meditative. You have to block out your surroundings, focus on your breathing, [because] even your heartbeat can throw off the accuracy of the shot.”

Apart from training his brain and mind to improve his focus, Ryan Phillippe also took the initiative to perform his own stunts for the movie, believing that this would have a greater impact on the audience. The Cruel Intentions star has previously expressed his belief that actors shouldn’t capitalize on stunt scenes that have been performed by a stunt double. According to the New York Times, Ryan Phillippe revealed that that present-day audiences are perfectly capable of discerning whether a stunt has been performed by a stunt double or the original actor.

“Television has gotten so good, and audiences savvier, and they’re looking for that switch shot where it’s clearly not you. I thought if we’ve got this guy where it’s him against the world, I wanted them to see me get a little beat up.”

As a part of his role, Ryan Phillippe leaped from a fourth-floor balcony without the help of a stunt double, supported by a cable connected to a hydraulic system. The actor further underwent exclusive arms training while preparing for the role, and was specially trained by expert Marine snipers at Camp Pendleton, a base for U.S. Marine Corps.

Ryan Phillippe’s Shooter was initially due to be released in July, 2016, but the release was postponed by more than four months after the tragic Baton Rouge police shooting in Louisiana.

Bustle reported that, given the considerable delay is in getting the first season of Shooter to television screens, fans were understandably worried if the show would be renewed for a second season.

Luckily, fans were delighted when the USA Network announced its decision to renew Shooter for a second season, especially since the decision was made after only half of the 10 episodes in Shooter season one had aired. The network seems to know a good thing when it comes across one.

Even though Phillippe may be considered a little too old to play the physically demanding role in Shooter, the Cruel Intentions actor decided to face the challenge of playing the role because Mark Wahlberg himself, who previously played the same role in the 2007 movie of the same name, had expressed his opinion that Phillippe was the most suitable actor to portray the sniper.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts taken by the filmmakers and the actor, by all accounts Shooter falls short of expectations. The Los Angeles Times reported that Shooter does not have the appeal of other television political dramas or spy thrillers because it is neither emotionally based, nor it is based on current political scenarios.

Ryan Phillippe has spent more than 20 years in show business and somehow has managed to maintain his boyish looks and trim physique. The actor has three children from his marriage to Reese Witherspoon, and he is still perceived as a very young man due to his looks. In fact, many people often mistake him as the brother of Ava Elizabeth Phillippe, his 17-year-old daughter. According to People magazine, Ryan Phillippe appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden and revealed that his daughter Ava feels uncomfortable when he is perceived as her brother.

“My daughter gets embarrassed sometimes by the fact that I do look so young and I get mistaken for her brother sometimes. Which repulses her? Like, absolutely repulses her that anyone could mistake me for her brother.”

[Featured Image by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images]

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