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The cast of National Geographic’s The Long Road Home lived at Fort Hood during filming, next door to soldiers and barking dogs.
“We were in duplexes,” said Michael Kelly (Lt. Col. Gary Volesky). We had plenty of space but it certainly wasn’t what you’re used to as an actor.”
They had deep conversations with the men on the ground and the wives and families at home when the military base’s First Cavalry Division was ambushed in Sadr City, Iraq, on the fourth day of their peacekeeping deployment.
The eight-part series based on the book by Martha Raddatz tells the story of the day that would become known as Black Sunday, and aims to provide a fictional but accurate depiction of how those events unfolded.
The show covers not just the battle, but the struggle on the home front as well.
Kate Bosworth spoke with Gina Denomy, the character she plays, almost every day as she shared intimate details of her life and marriage.
“She’s been so supportive of us telling this story,” Bosworth said.
Eric Bourquin and Aaron Fowler, two soldiers involved in the ambush, served as production consultants for the series.
“I hope the audience understands the story is about family and sacrifice,” Bourquin said.
Indeed, E.J. Bonilla (Lt. Shane Aguero) said he hopes the audience takes away from the series just some of the sentiments he felt when filming.
“I am never going to be the same,” Bonilla said. “What I experienced here with these awesome people has changed my life. I didn’t understand anything about what soldiers go through, and I can’t even pretend like I know much now, but I know a lot more than I did. I respect you guys so much. And if the audience can just get a little bit of that, the show is worth it.”
The Long Road Home premieres Tuesday, November 7. Nat Geo will also launch The Long Road Home companion documentary to the scripted series.
RELATED: Black Sunday Series Coming to Nat Geo
The State is another fact-based series from the network that follows four British men and women who leave their lives behind to join ISIS in Syria.
Writer and director Peter Kosminsky spent about a year and a half doing research for the scripted miniseries, and the actors all play composite characters involved in dramatized versions of real events.
“We haven’t invented any incidents,” Kosminsky said.
Across Europe are stories of young people from countries like England and France who slip away from their families. There are grainy pictures of them crossing the border between Turkey and Syria, and then nothing.
“What we set out to do was draw the curtain aside and say ‘we’re not going to make a show about radicalization,’” he said. “We’re going to make a show about what their daily lives are like. Where do they live? What do they eat? How do they survive?”
The State premieres in a two-night even on September 18 and 19.
RELATED: Four Britians Travel to Syria to Join ISIS in ‘The State’
From another perspective on the topic, the new eight-part documentary series Chain of Command looks at the war against violent extremism through unprecedented access granted to the U.S. Armed forces.
The series captures Gen. Joe Dunford and the Joint Chiefs of Staff creating policy and strategy that is executed on the battlefield, revealing how decisions made at the Pentagon have a direct impact on service members fighting on the front lines.
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