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Generation Kill

HBO miniseries, July 2008

Lee Tergesen will be among the actors to lead the ensemble cast of this seven-hour miniseries, scheduled to premiere in July 2008 on HBO. 

Lee will play a character nicknamed "Scribe" -- essentially the part of Evan Wright, the journalist who wrote the reports and the award-winning book "Generation Kill." Wright was embedded with U.S. troops in the first phase of the Iraq war in 2003.

Filming ran throughout the second half of 2007 in South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia. An actor's blog provided this shooting schedule:

• First 5 weeks in Swakopmund, Namibia.

• Then 13 weeks in Upington, South Africa.

• Then 2 months in Maputo, Mozambique.

• Then a month in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Filming wrapped up just before Christmas 2007.

Action actually started in June 2005 with a "boot camp" of sorts. One of the executive producers, George Faber, said the 20 core actors on "Generation Kill" were put through a rigorous, nine-day boot camp in Africa to prepare for the roles.

"They were licked into shape by real-life Marines and are finer physical specimens than they were 10 days ago," Faber said in an item dated July 1 at another actor's blog. "They've received their certificates and appear to have been whipped."

The other principal cast members are Alexander Skarsgard, James Ransone, Stark Sands and Jon Huertas. The miniseries is being adapted by David Simon and Ed Burns, the creators of the acclaimed HBO series "The Wire."

According to Variety, the "gritty mini will look at the early movements of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and depict the complex challenges faced by the U.S.-led mission even in the war's early stages."

Furthermore, Variety reported that HBO said the "essence of the project ... is how elite members of the Marine Corps confront the military bureaucracy in the midst of a war."

Each of the miniseries' seven segments will focus on a different soldier.