TORONTO -- A former U.S. Marine is bringing his real-life experience to season four of the popular TV drama 鈥淭his is Us,鈥 as the show plunges deeper into the struggles of post-traumatic stress for soldiers.
James LaPorta is a veteran who has had multiple deployments in Afghanistan in the past, and now works as a journalist. It was journalism that first brought him into contact with 鈥淭his is Us鈥 show creator Dan Fogelman, he told 麻豆影视 -- at first, he was just looking to interview him.
LaPorta had no idea that soon he would be the show鈥檚 new military consultant.
鈥淭his Is Us,鈥 a show that follows the lives of the Pearson family, has explored the effects of war before within the series -- the patriarch of the family, Jack, fought in the Vietnam War with his brother Nicky.
LaPorta said he had been a 鈥渇an of the show from the beginning,鈥 but when it started delving further into that Vietnam War storyline, he was impressed by the accuracy.
鈥淭hey were just getting a lot of things right,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut not only just getting a lot of things right from a historical standpoint 鈥 they just captured what it鈥檚 like to come home and what it鈥檚 like to sort of be back in civilian life after rotating out of the military.鈥
He said that any veteran could 鈥渞elate鈥 to that feeling of displacement, not matter which war they had fought in.
鈥淭he way I got involved (in 鈥楾his is Us鈥) was 鈥 I reached out and (said) 鈥楬ey, I wanted to do a story,鈥 and found out that 鈥楾his is Us鈥 had brought in Tim O鈥橞rien, who wrote probably one of the best books to come out of Vietnam.鈥
That book was 鈥淭he Things They Carried,鈥 a collection of linked short stories that O鈥橞rien wrote based on his experiences as a soldier in the Vietnam War. The collection was nominated for a Pulitzer.
鈥(O鈥橞rien) wrote the Vietnam storyline (for 鈥楾his Is Us鈥),鈥 LaPorta said.
LaPorta arranged an interview with Fogelman and O鈥橞rien. But an hour before the interview was set to take place, LaPorta received devastating news.
鈥淚 had learned that a marine that I had served with in Afghanistan had taken their own life,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd as you can imagine, the interview didn鈥檛 go well. I sort of broke down on the phone call.鈥
He said that as a journalist, it was an embarrassing moment for him. But Fogelman didn鈥檛 see it that way. LaPorta said Fogelman told him, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e being a little too hard on yourself. You鈥檙e human.鈥
The creators later told LaPorta that they were inspired by his story, and he said they asked him to 鈥渉elp us craft season four.鈥
Season four brings new characters and a new look at PTSD with the storyline of Cassidy Sharp, played by Jennifer Morrison.
Cassidy is an accomplished military officer who struggles to deal with civilian life after returning home from the Middle East. After alienating her family, she ends up seeking help in a support group for veterans. Her first connection with a member of the Pearson family comes at the end of the first episode of season 4, when her group session is disrupted by Nicky throwing a chair through the window.
鈥淚 became incredibly obsessed with getting everything right,鈥 LaPorta said about working on the show.
It wasn鈥檛 the regular fans of the show that he was worried so much about letting down-- it was other veterans who could watch the season and see something out of place.
鈥淎nd so actually everything in Cassidy鈥檚 storyline 鈥 is either a true story, or comes from a real fact, or comes from a real statistic,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e made up very little, if anything at all.鈥
He did 鈥渢ons of research鈥 to prepare for the first episode of season four alone, he said, and the showrunners did their own research to match. LaPorta said that even details that might not be noticed by every viewer were still important to the show鈥檚 creative team to get right, down to small things like dyeing the actors鈥 beards to make sure they matched real life cultural practices.
The most important thing for him is to depict PTSD accurately and help raise awareness, he said.
鈥淭he one message that everybody should take away from this storyline, or even just being a casual watcher of 鈥楾his Is Us,鈥 is that there is help out there,鈥 LaPorta said. 鈥淭he best way to take care of post-traumatic stress -- or any stress that you鈥檝e been through, regardless if it鈥檚 war or not 鈥 is to find that support group 鈥 go through it as a community.鈥
He wants 鈥淭his is Us鈥 viewers to know that 鈥測ou don鈥檛 have to go through life alone. Nobody is meant to be alone.鈥