All documentary filmmakers approach things a little differently, but Morgan Spurlock has really separated himself from the pack by putting his own health and safety at risk. He ate enough McDonald's food to nearly kill him in Super Size Me, tried to live on minimum wage in the first season of 30 Days, and went to jail in the second season. Now, he's traveling to one of the most dangerous areas in the world in Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? In the documentary, opening next week, Spurlock goes all over the Middle East, talking to families, soldiers, and even members of the Taliban about the most notorious mass murderer of the new millennium. In the process, he learns that as much as he may be different from his interview subjects, he has just as much in common. If you've ever seen his movies or show, you wouldn't be surprised to know that Morgan Spurlock is an easy-going, intelligent, and funny interview subject and we were lucky enough to sit down with him for a one-on-one recently after a screening and Q&A in the Windy City.

THE DEADBOLT: Before we get into the movie, what's going on with 30 Days this season?

MORGAN SPURLOCK: It's cool because every year we don't know - we kind of start talking about what topics are going to be in it and we always say, "How do you make it better than last year? How is it possible?" But this year is probably the best season we've done. Two of my favorite episodes were last season, which were the immigration episode and then the outsourcing episode. Both of those were stellar, stellar shows. This year I do two episodes - I do one were I go to West Virginia and work as an underground coal miner for 30 days and then I go live on a Navajo reservation for 30 days, which was pretty eye-opening. The other four are great. One's about gay parenting and there's a gun control episode, where a woman who's against gun and who's friend was killed my a stray bullet moves in with a pro-gun family in Ohio and she actually starts to work in a gun shop. That's a great show. My favorite that I've seen - there's a guy who's a hunter from North Carolina who moves in with a PETA family in L.A. That episode is AWESOME. In terms of all six this year, that's my favorite. The guy from North Carolina is fantastic. He doesn't pull any punches. There's no filter. It goes right from his brain - "Here's what I'm thinking. I'm going to tell you what I'm thinking."

THE DEADBOLT: It's not as catchy a title, but the movie could almost more accurately be called "WHY in the World is Osama Bin Laden?" So, why?

SPURLOCK: There are a lot of things that contribute to why. I think that, as you see in the movie, there are a lot of things that push people into following him from the living conditions in a lot of these countries to the oppressive leaders from a lot of these countries to the way that religion has been manipulated by this one guy. Over the course of the film, you see us explore a lot of these things and there are some great moments and some really sad moments in the movie that show what, in this day, still pushes people to follow someone like him and look at someone like him as a hero, someone to look up to.

THE DEADBOLT: A lot of the movie is about American misconceptions. Do you think that plays into it? Do we almost create the situation ourselves?

SPURLOCK: Well, I think there are misconceptions on both sides, which is great. Well, it's not "great" that there are misconceptions, but it's good to acknowledge that not only do we have misconceptions but that, over there, they have misconceptions of Americans, which perpetuates the problem. There are scenes in the movie that I expand on in the book that's coming out at the same time with people I met along the way who had never even met an American. I was the first American that they've ever been in a room with, that they've ever shaken hands with. And they've just imagined Americans as being these demons who hate everyone in the room. They hate Muslims. So, to actually have a conservation and clarify that this is not true and to actually dispel some of these myths one-on-one really made a difference.

THE DEADBOLT: Why do so many of these myths exist? Do you blame politicians, journalists, or others?

SPURLOCK: That's a good question. I think the media helps perpetuate a lot of that. I think here in the United States we get consistently fed one version of what Muslims are and it's the guy who's screaming and yelling, "Death to America!" That's what we get. If it bleeds, it's leads. That's the news mantra. It's about conflict. It's about controversy. It's about ratings. It's about getting eyeballs these days rather than telling the whole story. One of the things I really wanted to do with this movie was take it beyond the two-minute sound bite. To take it beyond the package that you usually get and explore this world a little deeper and give people a voice. Let people talk who don't normally get to speak. We spoke to some politicians along the way but I really made a conscious effort when we started editing to not put them in. I feel like we hear from those people enough and we hear the same thing. It's not just people in America. It's foreign politicians as well. It's by rote. So, let's hear from the people that don't ever get to speak. I think it's much more interesting to hear from those people.

THE DEADBOLT: I'm all about blaming politicians but I agree that the media industry has some blame to shoulder here.

SPURLOCK: Yeah, definitely. And the movie could have easily jumped on a Bush-bash train.

THE DEADBOLT: I think that's what people expect.

SPURLOCK: For me, there are things that happened before Bush came into office that play into this. For me, we need to start looking more ahead. What's next?

THE DEADBOLT: So, what do we do?

SPURLOCK: I think that, whoever becomes President, one of the biggest mandates has to be really shifting American foreign policy so that we can start to change the view of Americans and change the view of the United States internationally. There was a time when America was put on a pedestal, idolized, and seen as a beacon of hope. That's not the case anymore. The U.S. is looked at as an aggressor. They're not seen as a peacekeeper. They're looked at as a country that is out to get Muslims. As one guy says in the movie "to eradicate Islam." That's not the way we should be seen in the world. I think we need to get back to, as multiple people have told me, being this country that people really aspire to be a part of. That's been lost.

THE DEADBOLT: So, who can do that? Who are you supporting in this year's election?

SPURLOCK: I'm an independent. I don't know. I don't know what the answer is right now. We'll see who the two horses are that make it out. But I haven't quite made up my mind yet.

THE DEADBOLT: What was the most challenging part of the movie - either a location or a general aspect of the film?

SPURLOCK: We were shooting in so many countries. We even shot in Europe before we went to the Middle East. We shot some in London where the bombings were and shot in France and then headed into Egypt, Morocco, Israel, and on. There's a lot of logistics in managing just a travel schedule like that.

THE DEADBOLT: How long was that period?

SPURLOCK: It was about five months total. In each country, we had foreign journalists or "fixers" who, basically, took care of things for us on the ground. So, by the time we got there, when we landed we would already have a sound guy, except in the dangerous areas where our D.P. was a "one-man band". When we were in Afghanistan and Pakistan, we hired a journalist from the U.K. named James Brabazon. He's a frontline reporter. He goes to the frontlines of war zones and does movies and docs and news for the BBC and Channel 4. He loves it. He likes to go where the "bang, bang" is. Having no experience with something like that, we needed someone who could get us in and that could help navigate situations like that. While we were able to do what we needed to do - talk to people - he could be the eyes and ears that would say, "We need to leave. We need to get out of here." There are multiple things that you have to take into account when shooting in these countries - safety, how much time you're spending on the ground, who you're speaking to, the people you want to try and meet along the way. It's a lot.

Where in the World is Morgan Spurlock? Page 2