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To prepare the cast for the grueling shoot, Spielberg had the main cast go through a real boot camp, led by army veteran, actor, and movie adviser Dale Dye. Only one actor was not a genuine amputee: Bryan Cranston, later widely revered for his performance in Breaking Bad.
Hanks proved himself to be the right choice and was lauded by critics, the public, and his peers, and went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance.Īs a director, Spielberg strives for authenticity in all his films, with Saving Private Ryan staying true to that vision.ĭuring the Omaha Beach landing scene, Spielberg used real amputees wearing prosthetic limbs that were “blown off” to reveal their real, truncated limbs. Spielberg also considered Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford for the part, though it now seems unimaginable that Miller could have been played by anyone other than Hanks. Photo: Jayel Aheram / CC BY-SA 2.0Įven Tom Hanks was not a slam dunk for the pivotal role of Captain Miller, the officer charged with locating Private Ryan and returning him home. Nonetheless, upon meeting Damon he knew he was right for the role. Sizemore wasn’t the only actor that almost missed out, with Spielberg initially thinking that Damon was too small to play the role of a strapping young farm boy. Sizemore successfully stayed clean and also gave one of the most intense performances of his career. Spielberg had him undergo daily drug tests and promised to fire the actor if he didn’t stay clean. The part instead went to Tom Sizemore, although Spielberg was initially reluctant to cast him since Sizemore was undergoing treatment for a drug habit. Yet Thornton, a man of many phobias and odd habits, balked at the landing scenes because he is afraid of water.
This contributed to the actors – as well as their characters – not knowing him and adding to Damon’s feelings of alienation and loneliness to mimic his character’s real feelings.Ī particular casting choice that seems a little odd in hindsight was first offering the role of Technical Sergeant Mike Horvath to Billy Bob Thornton – perhaps Hollywood’s most eccentric actor. The filming structure also contributed to resentment among the “troops” who didn’t know Damon (or his character, Ryan) or care about the family’s plight since Damon didn’t appear until very late in the shooting schedule. It worked, with Hanks and Damon giving the some of the best performances of their careers. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. He wanted the cast to become close enough for them to experience an abrupt loss when one soldier “died” and was sent home. Spielberg was intent on giving the film a sense of realism, and so opted to shoot scenes in the precise order they appear in the final version. Movies are typically not shot in chronological order since this adds to shooting expenses, but that style of filming forces the actors to adapt to the shooting schedule they are given. The fictional town was constructed and filmed at an enormous studio lot in Hatfield, England. Only one other location is false the town of Ramelle where Private Ryan is located in the movie does not actually exist. 1st Infantry Division landing on Omaha, as photographed by Robert F. Into the Jaws of Death: Troops from the U.S. The movie’s opening scenes were instead shot on Irish beaches, but the illusion is certainly convincing. Whatever the reason, Spielberg had to look elsewhere. However, the French government refused to allow the crew to shoot on any beaches in Normandy, perhaps since it is almost a sacred place to the French. Saving Private Ryan depicts the D-Day landing of American troops landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy.