How 'The Pirate King' Honors Veterans Through Comedy and Drama: Director Josh Plasse on His Debut Film

The Pirate King marks director Josh Plasse’s feature film debut, but its emotional core runs deep. The movie, which premiered at SXSW, was inspired by Plasse’s uncle, Captain Todd Willis, a Marine veteran whose struggles with PTSD and addiction after serving in Afghanistan shaped the story.

The film centers on Todd Gillis (played by comedian and Marine veteran Rob Riggle), a former Marine who hits rock bottom after returning from Afghanistan. In an unexpected twist, Gillis finds solace in a group of pirate reenactors, forming a community that helps him navigate his challenges.

Balancing Comedy and Drama: Plasse’s Directorial Challenge

Plasse, who had no prior experience directing a feature film, faced the daunting task of blending humor with the raw realities of veterans’ struggles. He explained the difficulty of capturing the right tone to Den of Geek at SXSW:

“It has a difficult tone to capture. Because you need to have the levity of the pirate reenactment, but also the grounded truth of what these veterans are going through. I had to spend a lot of time really preparing how we would do that, what that throughline would be, and how we would capture it. I knew I couldn’t let this story down because it was so true to my uncle, true to myself, and true to my hometown that I would be embarrassed. It just made me work harder.”

To prepare for the film, Plasse immersed himself in the veteran community, working with Mission 22, a nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans and their families recover from service-related trauma. As part of his research, he participated in a 22-mile ruck run for Stop Soldier Suicide, wearing a 22-pound rucksack to raise awareness about veteran suicide rates.

“At the time, 22 veterans were dying by suicide every day in this country, which is a staggering statistic,” Plasse said. “121 people die by suicide every day in the United States. So that’s almost a sixth of them who are veterans, and that’s an overwhelmingly unacceptable number.”

Breaking the Stigma: Veterans and Mental Health

During his research, Plasse discovered that many veterans were reluctant to discuss their post-service struggles due to the stigma surrounding mental health. He recalled:

“[They] don’t really want to talk about it, because there’s a stigma there. They think that the more you talk about this issue, the more it’s propagated, whereas the others say, ‘Hey, it’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to have real conversations and talk about things that are hard, because we have to end this issue.’ So it was something I felt was a heavy, hard task, because I didn’t want to alienate some people, but I knew it needed to be spoken about.”

To ensure authenticity, Plasse interviewed over 100 veterans, shaping the film’s narrative around the idea of finding community in unexpected places. The story of Todd Gillis and the pirate reenactors emerged as the most compelling path forward.

Rob Riggle’s Commitment to the Role

Casting Rob Riggle as Todd Gillis was no accident. Riggle, best known for his roles in Modern Family and as a comedian, served in the Marines from 1990 to 2013, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His personal connection to the material made him the ideal choice to bring Gillis to life.

“I wanted to do the material justice, and also my fellow veterans,” Riggle said. “Everybody brought such unique, specific storytelling to it that it made every day an awesome experience to watch, learn, and grow.”