EXCLUSIVE: Vince Vaughn will move from the HBO series True Detective to Hacksaw Ridge, the fact-based movie that Mel Gibson is directing about Desmond Doss, the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Vaughn joins Andrew Garfield and Sam Worthington in a film that will shoot in Australia.

Garfield plays Doss and the story unfolds during WWII and follows the soldiers of the 307th Infantry, 77th Army Division, 1st Battalion, Company B as they train for battle. The story begins at a base camp in South Carolina and follows the recruits as they learn basic wartime survival skills before being deployed to Japan where they come face to face with the action at the Battle of Okinawa. Vaughn will play Sgt. Howell, a non-commissioned officer from Alabama whose job is to make sure the soldiers are ready for battle. Although he tries to instill fear in his soldiers by pushing them to their limits both physically and mentally, it is clear that he really cares about them and will do whatever it takes to keep them alive. Having a member who refuses to shoot and kill the enemy contradicts everything the sergeant has learned about war.

Deadline revealed last November that Gibson would return to directing on the project, which IM Global’s Stuart Ford has been selling. The film is produced by Bill Mechanic and David Permut, with Terry Benedict and Steve Longi the co-producers. Robert Schenkkan and Randall Wallace wrote the script.

The role keeps Vaughn on the drama track he has traveled lately with the second season of Nic Pizzolatto’s second season of the cop anthology series True Detective. Vaughn is repped by WME.