Steven Spielberg has made some of the greatest films that will forever stand the test of time. The director has made films in every genre and has shown that he is a master at evoking awe and emotion in everything he does. In the 90s, Spielberg made two drastically different films based on World War II, considered among his best works.
While 1993 Schindler’s List, focused on a German industrialist saving a thousand Polish Jews, 1998’s Saving Private Ryan dealt with a group of soldiers trying to locate the titular Ryan in Normandy. Tom Hanks played the lead role in the latter but several actors like Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford were considered before the Forrest Gump star.
Despite Mel Gibson’s Suggestions, Steven Spielberg Didn’t Cast Him in Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks worked on the 1998 WWII film Saving Private Ryan for the first time. Hanks played the role of John H. Miller, who leads a group of soldiers assigned to find Private Ryan played by Matt Damon, after his brothers are killed in action. The Forrest Gump star played Miller with great conviction and vulnerability due to the character’s PTSD.
However, Hanks was not the first choice for the role. As stated by Joe.ie, Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were originally up for the role before Hanks was confirmed. Gibson even suggested Spielberg to use Ireland for the film’s Normandy invasion sequence, after his great experience on Braveheart.
For Spielberg, he “was trying very hard to imagine what actor would not immediately want to use his teeth to pull out a pin from a hand grenade” (via RogerEbert.com). For him, Hanks immediately came to mind, and thus eventually played the lead role. Despite not being cast in the film, Gibson’s suggestion paid off, as the Normandy sequence is still the film’s most memorable sequence.
Saving Private Ryan was a big critical and commercial hit, grossing $481 million against a $70 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), while also winning 5 Oscars. The harrowing film echoed the same sentiments in Spielberg’s Schindler’s List about war and its devastating effects on humankind. The two films are considered two of the best war films ever made.
Tom Hanks Was Surprised At Being Cast in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan
Tom Hanks has always been known as the mild-mannered good guy in Hollywood and many of his films have featured him as the morally ideal character. One wouldn’t have imagined him playing a tough and battered soldier. But that was what he was in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. In an interview with Oprah, Hanks revealed that he was surprised at being approached to play the role.
However, the actor soon started to see the vulnerabilities of the character and fear being the driving force of his actions. Being in the middle of World War II, the character is consistently challenged, which the Forrest Gump actor instantly relates to. Hanks said (via Oprah.com),
But I still have moments when I think, ‘They want me to play this role? They want me to be Captain John Miller [in ‘Saving Private Ryan’]?’ Never in my wildest scenarios would I have thought I would be able to have enough of somebody’s confidence to do such a thing.
The first time I read about Captain John Miller, here’s what I got: He’s scared. And he’s afraid in the same way that I would be in his circumstances. His fear is the reason for everything he does. And all the questions that are answered in the movie come back to that core thing.
Saving Private Ryan also starred Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies. After the success of the film, Hanks and Spielberg further collaborated on The Terminal. Catch Me if You Can, Bridge of Spies, and The Post. Fans can watch Saving Private Ryan on Prime Video.
