Tom Hanks found fame by starring in Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film Saving Private Ryan which starred him alongside Matt Damon and an ensemble cast of other actors. The film grew in popularity as multiple war veterans talked about the realistic portrayal of war that the movie forced its audiences to go through.
Following the 1998 project, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg reunited for the iconic American drama miniseries Band of Brothers. With Hanks set as the director of one episode, the actor fired a cast member from the show only to return to his podcast 20 years later!
Tom Hanks Fired An Actor For Having Dead Eyes!
Band of Brothers, a miniseries that aired in 2001 received critical acclaim and fame despite only having 1 season to its name. Starring several big names in Hollywood in the series like Tom Hanks, Michael Fassbender, and, David Schwimmer, the series became one of the highest-rated series on IMDB.
In an episode, the auditions for the character of Private Zielinski were ongoing when actor Connor Ratliff decided to try out his luck. Fresh out of acting school, Ratliff didn’t mind that the role was a minor one but he was just excited to work with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. After auditioning, Ratliff got a call from his agent.
As per The Telegraph, the agent said to Ratliff “You have to get on a train to London right away! Tom Hanks has seen your audition tape and he’s having second thoughts. He thinks you have dead eyes”. ‘Dead eyes’ is a term associated with people having soulless eyes or not having any interest in their surroundings. When Ratliff auditioned in front of Tom Hanks, the actor thanked him for coming and asked him to step outside for a few minutes.
As the minutes passed by, Ratliff got the bad news that they had fired him because of his alleged ‘dead eyes’. Being disheartened, Ratliff left the world of acting for quite a while when he discovered improv comedy. Following the years, the dejected actor started his own podcast in 2020 titled Dead Eyes.
Tom Hanks Met Connor Ratliff On His Podcast 20 Years Later!
Yes, the podcast was just made for Ratliff asking answers to the question as to why he was fired. During the course of the podcast, several actors also shared their ‘dead eyes’ stories and how everyone had gone through one.
In 2022, Dead Eyes released a 90-minute show that had Tom Hanks in it. Ratliff asked Hanks 20 years later whether he actually said Ratliff had dead eyes and Hanks admitted that he probably did but defended his statement by saying “It’s been said about me.” Following the podcast, Ratliff has starred in some roles in movies like Mean Girls (2024) and is also attached to two other projects.
The iconic American drama miniseries that rejected Connor Ratliff from a role is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
