“They did, in fact, which was a terrific lesson”: Tom Hanks’ Genius Contribution to Band of Brother Can’t be Underestimated That Made the Show Much, Much Better

Over the years of his lengthy career, Tom Hanks has become one of the most respected names in the world. His talent knows no bounds, having worked in some of the most successful films of all time. Knowing the experience he has had, it is safe to say that he understands quite a lot about the film industry. From direction to cast, and how to write masterpieces.

One example of his many successful works is Band of Brothers, a 2001 series following a group of soldiers during the end of World War II. There were several very interesting aspects of the series. However, during production, the creators of the series were concerned about one aspect.

Although they made several plans to find a way around it, in the end, it was Hanks’ advice that proved to be most beneficial.

Band of Brothers Faced a Big Problem

Erik Jendresen, the lead writer of Band of Brothers, once gave an in-depth interview with The Emmys, where he talked about the making of the series. Since the series was a war project, it faced a very big issue when it came to costumes and character design.

In Hollywood, filmmakers and production designers rely on the physical differences of the characters’ costumes to convey a lot about their personalities and states of mind.

Tom and I faced this notion of, we have this ensemble of all these guys [and] they’re all dressed identically. For most of the show, their faces are dirty. How the hell are we going to tell them apart?

However, in war projects, this proves to be quite difficult as all actors are forced to be soot-covered soldiers, wearing the same uniforms. During the interview, Jendresen revealed that this proved to be quite an issue during the making of the series, as they were worried that the characters and their individuality would get lost in their common looks and audiences would not be able to tell them apart.

His experience working on Saving Private Ryan helped us out there, in terms of how to help distinguish characters from one another. And the first iteration of the pilot that I wrote was a little bit more conventional in its structure, with more formal introductions of the main ensemble.

Thankfully, such an issue was faced by Tom Hanks when he was working on Saving Private Ryan, so he had some ideas on how the conflict could be handled. Plans were made to make characters have different uniforms by changing their designations within the army, and they would formally introduce each character to establish them directly.

Tom Hanks Had a Better Plan

Such an approach would not have been conventional and in this instance, it may have been a bad thing. This is perhaps why Tom Hanks suggested against it later in production. Erik Jendresen revealed that the actor wanted to take a much riskier option and suggested that they trust their audience.

We ultimately rejected that structure because Tom’s notion was, “Look, it’s just going to happen over time. We’re recreating the exact conditions that all these men were in themselves.

They’re all looking at each other thinking ‘We all look alike.’ And you have to individualize yourself from your strength of character, whatever it is, whoever it is you are.”

While character appearances can certainly add a layer of uniqueness, it is the actor who truly establishes intentions and a personality. Hanks suggested that they trust that and the audience’s ability to pay attention to the show they are watching.

And he felt that we could count on you, the audience, to come along with that. And they did, in fact, which was a terrific lesson.

Even though this was quite a risky approach at the time, the show decided to go through with it and set aside their original plan. Fortunately, Hanks’ idea managed to work, and the series has gained immense acclaim even two decades after its release.

Band of Brothers is available for streaming on Netflix.