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

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  (#1) Damian Lewis Became Good Friends With The Real Captain Winters

  Cast as Captain Richard Winters, actor Damian Lewis prepared for the role by getting to know his real-life counterpart. Lewis visited Winters at the veteran's home in Pennsylvania, ultimately befriending the man he played onscreen.

  While with Winters, Lewis gained access to his diaries, but found it difficult to get clear insight into exactly how Winters felt during his time in the service. Lewis, who called Winters a "total soldier," described most of what Winters told him as "practical memories of operational detail," a testament to the man's leadership skills and demonstrative of his humility and confidence. 

  Lewis and Winters maintained a relationship, continuing to write one another, but Lewis was unable to attend Winters's funeral when he passed away in 2011.

  The friendship between Lewis and Winters wasn't the only bond struck up between actors and the soldiers they portrayed. In conversation with William Guarnere, actor Frank John Hughes was informed that his foxhole digging practice had been in vain, told by the veteran, "Kid, I was a staff sergeant. We didn’t dig foxholes. You have other people to do dat for ya, so don’t do dat anymore."

  Donnie Wahlberg, who played Carwood Lipton, recalled, "The real Lip and I are pretty close.... He definitely sized me up and put me through it a bit at first. He asked how old I was. I said, 'Er, 36.' He was 22 when he served." (Note: Wahlberg was actually 30 at the time of filming, and Lipton was 24 when he went to Europe.)
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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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  (#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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  (#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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  (#12) There Were 500 Speaking Roles And Thousands Of Extras

  The numbers associated with Band of Brothers - extremely high when it came to budget - were equally lofty when it came to almost every aspect of production. To make Band of Brothers, eight directors and seven writers worked with roughly 500 members of the cast who had speaking parts.

  Extras exceeded 10,000 in number, while costumers acquired 2,000 military uniforms (German and American) alongside 500 pairs of Corcoran jump boots - worn by paratroopers in the 1940s. Combat scenes required 700 authentic, period-specific weapons (and 400 props), ranging from rifles to pistols to machine guns.

  To ensure authenticity, the costume department also had 12,000 vintage outfits worn by actors playing civilians.

  In contrast to the historical items used, production also required extensive computer-generated elements. More than 700 visual effects shots were created for Band of Brothers and, at times, the color of the show was digitally adjusted to reflect the type of image captured by a camera during the 1940s.
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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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