Paul Gross recalls helicopter rides in Afghanistan with hockey legend Guy Lafleur
The first time actor and director Paul Gross went to Afghanistan was in 2010.
It was as part of a tour along with a comedian, a rock band and others who were there to entertain the troops.
"I really had nothing much to do except kind of wander around and talk to people," Gross said.
And there happened to be another person on the tour in a similar boat.
"Guy Lafleur was my absolute favourite hockey player so of course I almost instantly sidled up to him and let him know that I was now officially his best friend for the rest of this trip." Gross said.
From then on, the two hung around together. Lafleur had been to Afghanistan before so he and Gross would head out by helicopter and fly to different bases that Lafleur said had better food.
"It was a completely surreal place," Gross recalled. "I'm not only in this unbelievably foreign environment but I also have my favourite hockey player as my guide."
That trip made such an impression on Paul Gross that he went back, eventually gathering stories that would become
a feature movie, Hyena Road.
During that second trip in 2011, Gross took a camera crew and had a very different experience. This time, he spent two weeks talking to soldiers and was taken aback by how difficult everything there was.
What he found most interesting, was what that constant threat of danger did to his perception of everyday things.
"Obviously it's to do with the proximity of death but when everything is that keyed up it's kind of odd to come back to a place where things are more or less normal."