By ,
Published May 02, 2016
Some people pretend to be tough guys but R. Lee Ermey, a.k.a The Gunny, is the real deal. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran and movie star best known for his role in “Full Metal Jacket” talked to FOX411 about his new series on Outdoor Channel, "GunnyTime,” and why he loves to blow stuff up.
FOX411: Tell us about the show?
Gunny: I own the show. I direct, I produce it, I write it, I host it. I decide what we’re going to have on, and trust me, I’m a fun guy.
FOX411: What is something that you learned on this series that you didn’t know before?
Gunny: I’ve learned that everyone loves a great explosion. We drive the tanks. We shoot the guns. We fly the airplanes. My philosophy is if we can’t drive it, fly it or shoot it, we blow that doggone thing up. But as far as being a bad ass I’m kind of past that stage now. I think things out first. I basically like guns, machinery, weapons systems. We’ve got weapon systems, new weapon systems in the military that no one has heard of or nobody’s seen. I think people are interested to see where their taxpayers’ dollars are going.
FOX411: You’ve done a tremendous amount of outreach on your show for the military community.
Gunny: I invite Navy SEALS on board to snipers to show us what they can do and then I beat them. You know these guys that are snipers and Navy Seals and Marine Corps recon those are our children, those are our sons and daughters. We like to go onto base and highlight our sons and daughters, and let mom and dad at home and all the neighbors see little Bobby in his military uniform dropping mortars down that mortar tube and making it things happen.
FOX411: You got into some controversy when you posted a picture of you over a dead lion and a gun. What do you say to your critics?
Gunny: You know the people that have a problem with that pictures I could care less about anyway. I wouldn’t wipe my… alright we won’t go there. However, these are people I have no use for anyway. These are not my fans. My fans root me on. I hunted that lion for two days. For two days I stalked that lion. Finally, when I got my shot that lion was coming to kill me. I was almost in exhaustion myself and the lion was exhausted. We push hard and we don’t let up. Finally, the lion says this guy isn’t giving up I’m going to have to take him out. If you listen to PETA and all these animal rights or whatever, I’m a hunter, and I grew up hunting, but there’s no shortage of lions. If you studied lions you’ll find out a male rogue lion will come into a pride and they will kill all of the baby lions. Well, if you didn’t hunt the select few the lion population would just get smaller and smaller.
"GunnyTime" premieres April 15th on the Outdoor Channel.
WATCH: Let's play 'Name that Celebrity Meltdown'!
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/gunnytime-premieres-if-we-cant-drive-it-fly-it-or-shoot-it-we-blow-that-doggone-thing-up