"Not what we signed up for": The actors broke – and Tom Hanks appeared in a helicopter
Neal McDonough, who played officer Lynn "Buck" Compton in the series "Band of Brothers", recently revealed a behind-the-scenes story from the production of the successful war drama. According to him, during an intensive training camp held before filming, some of the actors reached a breaking point and a kind of "mutiny" even developed. And then, he said, Tom Hanks arrived in a helicopter, gathered everyone, and gave them a speech.
Neal McDonough, who played officer Lynn "Buck" Compton in the series "Band of Brothers", recently revealed a behind-the-scenes story from the production of the successful war drama. According to him, during an intensive training camp held before filming, some of the actors reached a breaking point and a kind of "mutiny" even developed. And then, he said, Tom Hanks arrived in a helicopter, gathered everyone, and gave them a speech about the responsibility to honorably represent the soldiers of World War II.
"Band of Brothers", which aired on HBO in 2001, told the story of Easy Company from the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army, which fought in Europe during World War II. To make the actors look and act like real soldiers, the production put them through a military training camp before filming began.
According to McDonough, the training was so difficult that some of the cast members began to resent it. "About five days after we started, there was a mutiny," he said. He described numerous injuries and said that some of the actors felt that the experience was far beyond what they had expected. According to him, some of them said: "This is not what we signed up for."
According to McDonough, at this stage, a helicopter suddenly appeared at the training base. Out of it stepped Tom Hanks, who was one of the producers of the series along with Steven Spielberg. According to McDonough, Hanks gathered the actors and delivered a message that they owed it to the soldiers of Easy Company and everyone who fought in World War II to work as hard as possible, because those soldiers sacrificed their lives for freedom. According to him, Hanks emphasized that their role was to tell their story in a credible and respectful way.
McDonough said that the speech completely changed the actors' attitude toward the training camp. At first, he used the word "brainwashing," but immediately qualified it and explained that he meant that everyone understood the magnitude of the responsibility placed upon them. According to him, "after that, we realized that Tom was right," and the message Hanks delivered stayed with the cast members even after the series aired and became a great success.
The training was conducted by Dale Dye, a retired Marine officer, Vietnam War veteran, and long-time military consultant in Hollywood. McDonough said that Dye pushed the actors to the limit on purpose. "We all hated him, because he pushed us to the limit," he said. Only later, according to him, did the actors realize that Dye had intentionally made himself their "common enemy" in order to get the group to unite and operate as a military unit.
The camp was not just about physical difficulty. McDonough said that during one of the exercises, he was hit in the mouth by a .30 caliber machine gun, broke teeth, and was injured. According to him, he asked Shane Taylor, who played medic Eugene "Doc" Roe, to treat him. Taylor reminded him that he was an actor, not a doctor, but McDonough insisted that he try to stitch the wound. A few days later, the injury became infected, and he had to go to a hospital.
McDonough said that when he arrived for medical treatment, he gave the staff the name of the character he was playing — Lynn Compton — and not his real name. According to him, it was important to him that the medical document bear the name of the soldier on whom the character was based. After returning to the base, McDonough showed Dale Dye the hospital documents. According to him, Dye was moved to tears when he realized how seriously the actor had taken the commitment to the character.
Before filming, McDonough met the real Lynn "Buck" Compton, who was a platoon leader in Easy Company and fought, among other things, in the Normandy landings and Operation Market Garden. The two became close friends and kept in touch until Compton's death in 2012. McDonough even described him in the past as another father figure in his life, gave his son the nickname "Little Buck," and later attended his funeral.
"Band of Brothers" was created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and was based on the book by historian Stephen Ambrose. The series featured, among others, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Donnie Wahlberg, David Schwimmer, and Michael Cudlitz. Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy also appeared in small roles. The production received much praise for its realism and attempt to recreate the combat experience as accurately as possible. It won seven Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe.
For McDonough, that tough camp was a central part of what made the series what it is. According to him, only in retrospect did the actors realize that the difficulty and pressure were intended to make them act as one group — and that Hanks' speech was the moment when the way they looked at the mission changed.
