Random Behind The Scenes Stories From The Making Of 'Band Of Brothers' (12 items)

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  (#4) Several Actors Who Became Stars Didn’t Make The Cut

  The cast of Band of Brothers is rife with familiar faces - and numerous stars in the making. Future heavyweights like James McAvoy and Tom Hardy appear in relatively small roles, while comedic performers like David Schwimmer expanded his acting repertoire by taking a more dramatic role of Captain Herbert Sobel. 

  Meg Liberman, who was in charge of casting for Band of Brothers, recalled her first encounter with Damian Lewis, Lewis was so good in his audition that Liberman shifted from casting an American for the role of Dick Winters, opting for the Brit instead. "He just felt like a leader," Liberman explained, "He felt like the guy that these men would do anything for. And it was very clear to me the minute we all sat down that he was the guy."

  In a process full of "discoveries," Liberman also passed on some actors who would later become big names in Hollywood. Norman Reedus, a staple on The Walking Dead, did not get cast on the show, nor did Jason Schwartzman and Peter Sarsgaard.

  In another instance, one unnamed actor who almost was cast bowed out after hearing about the pre-production bootcamp. 
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  (#9) Jeep Provided Hundreds Of Vehicles And Promotion

  In making Band of Brothers, HBO struck a mutually beneficial arrangement with Jeep. Product placement by the network and a large marketing campaign on the part of the vehicle's parent company, Daimler Chrysler, doubled the media exposure for both in the build up to and during broadcast of the show.

  HBO's marketing campaign incorporated the Jeep logo. Advertisements and media boasted, "The Jeep brand is honored to celebrate the men of Easy Company... And all those who served in WWII." Jeff Bell, vice president for marketing at Daimler Chrysler at the time, indicated, "There are over 1,000 prominent appearances by Jeeps in the 10 hours." 

  For their part, Daimler Chrysler and Jeep invested in six commercials set to air on network television during the run of the show. The commercials incorporated footage from the miniseries, shots of Utah Beach in Normandy, and historic and contemporary Jeeps alike. 

  While Jeep was featured heavily, the inclusion of their products, according to HBO marketing executive Eric Kessler, "organic to the story, and integral part of the war." This is true, given that the vehicles were widely used by US forces starting in 1941.
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  (#5) A Real Veteran And The Cast’s Drill Instructor Played Colonel Sink

  Captain Dale Dye, the man who "allowed himself to be the common enemy" during the Band of Brothers' pre-shoot bootcamp, was a veteran of the and Marine Corp, serving as a Marine combat correspondent in Vietnam. After he retired from military service in 1984, began to consult for movies and television shows, later founding Warriors, Inc., which provided training programs to, "prepare the actors for the reality of serving in the military" and portray them on screen. 

  Dye watched on as the cast built "bonds early on in boot camp." After completing that task successfully, Dye continued to work as a consultant, staging the Battle of Bastogne in the Ardennes Forest for the show.

  Dye also found himself cast as in Band of Brothers as Colonel Robert Sink, commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborn Division. Dye continued working behind and in front of the camera after Band of Brothers, appearing numerous movies and television series. He even served as the voice of Colonel Sink in the 2007 video game Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. 
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  (#8) The Ardennes Forest Was An Indoor Set In An Aircraft Hangar

  While an entire village was constructed at the Hatfield Aerodrome, a nearby hangar served as home to a mock version of the Ardennes Forest. As the site of the Battle of the Bulge, fought during the winter of 1944 and 1945, the Ardennes Forest in Band of Brothers necessarily needed to appear as cold and bleak as it had during WW2. 

  Building the Ardennes Forest meant bringing in hundreds of pine trees. Additional trees were made by the props department, crafting foam, cardboard, and fiberglass into trees that could be moved and even destroyed onscreen. 

  In order to create the winter, the set-crew on Band of Brothers used snow made out of paper - so it wouldn't melt under while filming. In the end, more than 300,000 pounds of paper were used. 
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  (#11) Easy Company Veterans Returned To France For The Series Premiere

  The series chronicling the lives and actions of the men who served in Easy Company invited veterans from the outfit to the premier in 2001. Held at Utah Beach in Normandy - where Easy Company landed on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) - the premiere reunited nearly all of the remaining members of the group - flown to Paris via a plane chartered by HBO in partnership with American Airlines. Veterans unable to make the trip to Normandy were transported to screenings in the United States. 

  Attendees met their on-screen counterparts and took part in a memorial service prior to watching part of the 10-episode series, all of which took place amid temporary tents and screens built during the month prior to the debut.

  After the premiere, Easy Company veterans offered their reactions to what they'd seen. Edward "Babe" Heffron, played by Robin Laing, thought, "It captures what we went through. The scene in the plane before we jumped, it was just like that." William Guarnere, depicted by Frank John Hughes, acknowledged, "You've got 45 guys here, and everyone will have seen the war from a different point of view. You can't be perfect. But I'd say it is as accurate as possible."
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  (#3) The Cast Reunites Every Year On The Anniversary Of Their Boot Camp

  To prepare for the show, the main cast of Band of Brothers completed a 10-day bootcamp (actor Ron Livingston, who played Captain Lewis Nixon III, kept a video diary of the experience.) 

  Forty actors participated in rigorous physical training at the direction of Captain Dale Dye. During the 18-hour days, cast members were called only by the names of their characters. 

  Bootcamp began with a morning runs at 6 am, followed by time dedicated to learning general orders, familiarization with weapons and munitions, map and compass training, and comparable military-based exercises. During the camp, the actors took part in activities that would ultimately give them the skills to play paratroopers on screen. 

  Nights were spent on guard duty, during which the actors experienced sleep deprivation, while the overall intent of the experience was to build camaraderie among the group and create relationships that corresponded to real emotional dynamics in combat. 

  The bootcamp left an indelible mark on those who participated. After the series was completed, cast member Michael Cudlitz (who played Denver "Bull" Randleman) began hosting reunions of sort at his home. Reportedly, as of 2011, "People fly in from all over... Even now, I don’t think there’s anyone that wouldn’t drop anything to help each other out, and that’s a rare thing in Hollywood."

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