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{"id":1786,"date":"2012-04-18T11:23:50","date_gmt":"2012-04-18T17:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tinseltalk\/?p=1786"},"modified":"2012-04-24T11:00:25","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T17:00:25","slug":"nicholas-sparks-talks-about-the-lucky-one-and-supporting-returning-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tinseltalk\/2012\/04\/nicholas-sparks-talks-about-the-lucky-one-and-supporting-returning-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Nicholas Sparks Talks about The Lucky One and Supporting Returning Soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Unlike most Hollywood screenwriters, Nicholas Sparks lives in Eastern North Carolina, which gives him a perspective hard to find in Los Angeles. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of active military duty in my little town,\u201d he told me when we spoke by phone.<\/p>\n

Because he was familiar with soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sparks wrote the main character of his novel The Lucky One <\/em>as a soldier adjusting to life back in the United States. Starring Zac Efron, the movie adaptation opens Friday.<\/p>\n

Sparks used to coach a local high school track team and many of his players went on to military service. \u201cWhen they come home, they come see me, you know\u2026 \u2018Hey, Coach.\u2019 I get to see what they\u2019re going through coming back to the States.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soldiers I know, they were great at their jobs. They were great soldiers. You know what being a great soldier means. It means killing people and blowing up things. They come home and they\u2019re not doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome soldiers need more help than others,\u201d Sparks said, noting that some just need a shot at a job while others need ongoing medical and emotional care. He added that he gives veterans \u201cextra points\u201d when making hiring decisions. He doesn\u2019t stop there, however. Always known as a supporter of charity, he\u2019s adding military groups to his list. In fact, he\u2019s organizing a fundraising weekend in North Carolina for opening weekend, proceeds going in part to The Wounded Warrior Project.<\/p>\n

He says it\u2019s the least he can do.<\/p>\n

Efron plays Logan, a Marine who finds himself jumpy and unfocused after returning home from Iraq. He sets out to find the woman whose picture he uncovered in rubble in Baghdad, a happenstance that saved his life when a bomb struck just feet away as he picked it up. He finds her in a sunlit paradise of a farm serving as a doggie hotel and the rest, well, it unfolds as only a Nicholas Sparks romance can do.<\/p>\n

The Lucky One<\/em> is a story about \u201chow love can help you move on,\u201d said Sparks, but he also wants it to be a tribute to the men and women who answered the call and served the country, including the men and women he knows personally.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"