and find the full schedule on your program guide, and watch along anytime at c-span.org slash history. >> this election day, november 8th, the control of power in congress is at stake. will republicans retake the house? can democrats retake control of the senate? from now until election night, follow c-span's coverage of key house and senate races, with our coverage of debates, rallies, and candidate events. events as they happen, on tv, and the c-span now app. on demand on our website, and find our data rich election page at c-span dot org slash campaign 2022. >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday, american history tv documents america story. and on sundays, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction

books and authors. funding for c-span two comes from these television companies, and more. >> homework can be hard, but squatting in a diner for internet work is even harder. that'shy we are providing a lowe income students access to internet, so homework can just be homework. >> cox, along with these television companies, supports c-span 2 as a public service. up next, cast members of the world war ii miniseries, band of brothers, reflect on the historical and cultural significance of the show two decades after it aired. >> all right, ladies and gentlemen, let's get the show on the road here this morning! are you already? all right, let's hear it for currently. man oh man, we have postponed for a hurricane, boy you are all

still here. i feel like trek east. we are gonna call you the banter's are what are we going to call you? the president and ceo of the national world war ii museum i want to welcome everybody here for this anniversary symposium and reunion. what another venue to celebrate it than where we are today. the united states freedom museum at the boeing center. a lot of you are longtime friends with the museum, you've been here numerous times. you've attended other conferences or travel programs. you've been with us on the easy company from england to the eagles nests with other featured guests. also participated on those programs. we also see a lot of

new faces. welcome to all of you. hope if this is your first time here, it won't be the last time. you are all a testimony and a testament to the legacy of the hbo mini series, banned brothers. an audience of this size, nothing more seems to be said. there is 1000 of you out there on livestream, maybe many more by now. thank you all for tuning in. i'm sorry you can't be here with us. we just love it, we appreciate your interest and support and keeping these stories of the band of brothers, and world war ii, alive. before we get started, in keeping with the position, i would like to recognize world war ii veterans and home front workers and holocaust survivors. i know everybody wants to stand up and be recognized as we were to veterans but what we would like to do is have you all stay seated so we can see the world war ii veterans and recognized them and just clap. we have mr.

george -- battle veteran, the 25th entrance tree. where are you, george? george was with us for the 75th anniversary battle of the bald tour. we are so grateful you could join us. any other veterans of world war ii that might be here, please stand also. home front workers? holocaust survivors? sadly, we don't have any with us. george, you are in it. thank you all for being here. it is an honor to have here at the museum. i would like to ask veterans of all war, active or inactive service, veterans and active service please stand wherever you are. [applause] thank you

for your service, we honor all people in the military. active for veterans. this is a place where we honor them. you honor us by your presence. becky mackie, our executive vice president should be doing this interaction right now. they fell ill and is unable to join us. she asked me to recognize a few other of our featured guests who were instrumental in helping to make this symposium a reality. if you would please stand, others remain seated, kirk says you ski, right over here. kirk is also a member of the presidential counselor of

distinguished historians and museum leaders that meet with us once a year. he comes to tell us what to do. what we are getting right, what we are getting wrong, and what we ought to be doing. kirk, he has been invaluable. thank you very much. and the others who are here. i know a few others. thank you all. michael cudlitz who portrayed denver bull randleman. michael, where are you? [applause] frank john hughes who played wild bill carney air. he ross mccall who portrayed jill lipska. finally though he is not with us today, tim who played frank was with

us every step of the way planning this symposium. a big shout out to him. i also want to recognize ed tippers daughter kerry tipper you will see her later on for sure. at any event welcome to all of you. thank you, also, to the other cast of cast lenders and crew of bands of brothers as well as other family members of easy company who joined us on this important occasion. there is a lot of people to thank. i would say also our president and ceo who happens to be in normandy right now. the governor of louisiana, he could not be here as well. our travel team who had the idea to do this with becky a number of years ago. and with kirk

saduski and others who made it happen. our institute in the study of war and democracy, -- we have sponsors to. the reality is we can't do any of this without sponsors. let me list their names to a quickly. ryan axon, cameron bachelor, and mcdonald and their family from lévesque, texas. wrecking kathy renunciation sean. jonathan reagan rosenberger and his family. larry and penny should. richard sacker, the foundation. hbo. aviation atlantic -- the flying classroom. melvin, caroline, and and jordan. a few of you got to eat last night a fabulous dinner with some of our featured guests, cast, crew, and sponsors. a big thank you to hancock with lee, our

presenting sponsor. without them we might not be here. thank you all again for your support. all of the sponsors. i would like to recognize, dr. michael bell new executive director. the institute is a collection of great historians who inform everything we do in the way of a programs, our tours, and our publications. we are just excited to have michael on board. -- army officer, west point grant. 33

years in the military. had assignments at every level from platoon to pentagon staff. he is going to be year master of their mounties today. he will follow me in just a moment. let's get this thing underway. i think i am pretty much on schedule. becky was going to introduce me but i have already introduce myself! you know who i am. she had asked me to do a little fly through of how this museum got started. had a little something to do with it, you will know a little more about that and only 15 minutes i have to compressed 33 years in 15 minutes. it really is going to be a quick fly through. let me put this here and steve and myself can give you a clue to the amount of our friendship. i'm gonna one through nine sides really quick connected to the story. i think you will figure it out. as i go along. look talking about it now, of course you know that -- steve ambrose is in normandy.

that little gazebo in his backyard, where we hung out too much in the 80s. drink too much. research where the museum was supposed to be. you know who that is. let's hear it for -- big winner. where we ended up, if you've been the right across the street. ribbon cutting in student six 2000, recognize people. there are a master plan. and band of brothers. so. let's move on and go back to this story. so, steve amber's was my best friend. the both in the history department. 71 till 89. his son, hugh. many of you know hugh ambrose. very much involved with the protection of brand of

brothers, and others. so it was this friendship. now, look. you've got to understand we did everything together. our families grew up together. we hiked in the rockies, travel to europe together. to norman. the central europe. we refused to do anything. if you have an, idea i have an idea. we got about 40 foot i -- would've how much is it going to? cost 1000 bucks. how we're gonna pay for? well i'll start -- a will do it that. way hire some people to run it. we did. then we got into scuba diving. let's find divers. so we did. we did it for five years. and then we on the house together in st. john, virgin islands. i just want you to know that it was a lot of things, and it was a common love of history, though.

military and diplomatic. which drew us together. and we are used to doing big things. one of those was for the tourists, if we did in normandy. we started those in 1980. and helped organize, and i'm doing international education for the university of london. and there is major -- the same, steve talking there. started meeting people like howard, and other veterans along the way. and then saying at the eisenhower center for -- cities that ufo. i was a dean by, then and i said, okay we'll find space to make this oral history. and he, did over 1000 of them. by the time of our faithful conversation in 1990. and of, course did the books on vita. four 94. and band of brothers. citizens, soldiers, all slow down that oral history. and before i talk about, this just to say. band of brothers were in new orleans around 89 94 a

reunion. he was collecting, stores and he found out about being here. went into his hotel room a kind of busted in there and said, i am steve ambrose, i'm collecting stories. i'm gonna get yours, and i'm gonna write the most. and he said, this backyard, already looking back. that's kind of how it happened. if anybody tells you any difference, -- no we were starting off in the chief

gallows, which always served every afternoon. heart stopped and no open that chief carrie. we're gonna start a lot of d-day museum in the research apart, filling across the beaches where andrew higgins had a landing. i told me -- eisenhower that he built those landing crafts. in world war ii. because it enabled him to get over an open feat. we are here. tell the congress they are never going to do anything it about world war ii, we just don't write. here i have 1000 oral histories, books on the day is coming out in four years. 1994. for the anniversary. we are gonna have that museum -- it is great. let's do it. just likely sailboat. well, i said, good. that's great. probably going to cost 1 million dollars. you don't know anything about this. going to be at least $4 million. you never raise that money. well. of course, the higgins landing craft was a motivator. there is a research part. you can see it at the

corner there. pencilled in the higgins landing craft. and so, that was the idea. unlikely story. 33 years ago. a couple of history professor sat down and -- we were a little cocky. steve had a big name. but we always got excited about the history. and this was a way he thought to preserve those stories. easy companies. veterans, all of the veterans of the, day normandy and -- world war ii. so, we had a site. we had a cause. we have the higgins connection. we had a freelance. somebody said, wow, you don't get some money from congress if you haven't gotten a chance., now he said to steve, you have to go up and talk to a congressman. he did. he called me, up right after the meeting. he, said we've got everything we need., i said how much? he, said 4 million. i, said or do

you get that number? he, said from you! i said, that was over a. drawing that was not a -- study. anyway, there were a lot of ups and downs and -- we broke several times. steve had enough money, he kept the only secretary that we had employed a couple of times. but we did not know anything about -- museum. we did not know what we did not know. what we were getting into. we wrestled it to the ground. ten years, and 20 million later. we were across the street, there some of you have been there. so that is -- and that story was just the start of another story. that was a warehouse on the right, side memorial pavilion, when we opened ten years ago. and that was the opening, right there. there could be a lot of dignitaries there, to the right

stephen seal berg, seminary defense cohen. it was amazing. it wasn't just the ribbon cutting. we had 200,000 people on the streets of new orleans. when you see, their race or hand if you are. there are some of you. our look at how many people. there today, nolan's and -- will never forget. it was broadcast, televised worldwide. some 600 million people -- we had 80 trucks filled with d-day veterans. and everybody on either side of the road was, saying thank. you thank you for your service. you save democracy. you saved our freedom. it was quite a day. and went, on after that. two great success. and then steve

and i -- we did it. starting in that -- it was -- we thought it was finished. we relaxed. then along came senator ben stevens. senator stevens and steve edwards were friends. and he said, look, you left out the -- when i thought. distinguished flying cross, danny anyway was mediterranean, a lot of things you just can't do d-day. the best military museum in the country, but you've got to do the whole world. if you guys a degree to do that, -- we were a little bit reluctant, but we said we would try. and i stepped down as chairman, i was

german for a couple years by that time. i became president and ceo. and, sadly steve died in 2002, so he did not live to see what you see. but he was there for the beginning of the, dream and the beginning of the planning, which resulted in this. 400 and $7 million, capital campaigns, included after 23 years since we opened the d-day museum. the only thing connected to that early story, and all those things, was the 4 million. and the 400

and $7 million. so, the moral of the story is to be careful how much you drink with your very best friend. not a good idea. today, congress says not today it's 2004. doesn't need at this museum as the official museum for world war ii. and, by congressional resolution. ranked number three or four. the most popular museum in america, about trump advisor. seven or eight most popular in the world. before covid, hit we were pushing towards 1 million visitors a year. we are going to get this. so now, i am president. ceo of -- your ten people look mike bell in this whole museum who are carrying the vision. quote, steven i want to, my successor, finish the pavilion right out there. the last, one liberation. and you know, liberation was part of this. this story at the end. the mission of this museum is to tell the american experience. and they wore that

change the world. why it was fought, how it was one. and what it means today. how do you answer the question? so what? so what, even today. why was it important that we won that war? i've always wanted to tell it through the eyes of those who were there. and that starts with -- buck. it has. brothers they see the hbo mini series. our exhibit. our program. our

tours. conferences. programs like this. it is still happening. in the personal story. at the core of how this museum tells its story. we never lose sight of the values of the courage and the sacrifice. in our exhibit in our program. we are always the beating heart of this museum., steve of, course as i said earlier in this interview, i'm just going to clip from his interview. most of you know what. he said this to steve. i was praying to live her, praying that we wouldn't fail. every man i think was going to react under fire. never been tested under fire, you hope. to become a soldier. you wouldn't disgrace yourself. i have a lot

of tests that were survived, one of them was at the intersection at -- town and they want to end my remark with a little clip from ed tipper. i want you to think about what tipper, said as you begin this wonderful program. carrie temper was here, i hope somewhere. and there she is right there. it and i and why, if carrie was one of those men. amber double beat, up the math in north carolina a wonderful man. inspired -- one of those who inspired the actor who played the role in the company, and you are gonna be talking about this for the next day or two. austin once, is there anything you can tell me about -- he said no. firstly, he said. no but it could save my life. i said, how is that? that man only could. ron he could run. he ran us to death up there. ran ran ran ran ran. if

it hadn't been the conditioning -- i never would've survived that blast and made it to the beach. so that was the best i could say. let's hear it ram ed. >> the night of the invasion, y'all went into the airfield. what is going on before you all get in the plane, what is going on after getting the plane? >> i was there until last minute. likely condemned prisoners -- i think we had -- we had ice cream, we smoked for a couple of -- and we really took all that. the main thing i just can't stress too much, we were so committed that we were the best trained people and our world, that we could take on the germans. i don't care what reputation they had. we were going to be successful, probably, against them. we

expected -- but we are willing to take -- which is totally thought that we cannot be better prepared. our training was so good. and that proved to be true. we were dropped into total chaos. the pilots flying our planes or not combat prey but, they were transport pilots. with all the rockets in flares started coming up the anti aircraft, they panicked. the story is they got confused over fog. i think they were confused the minute the shooting started. anyway, the pilot i better talk about, the

pilot of my plane. the pilot of my plane was supposed to reduce the speed to 110 miles per hour from 180 or so. he didn't. we to make the jump easier, he did not. he panicked. that gave us the green not. the plane was going as fast -- there was going so fast when i jumped my backpack was torn off my back by the impact of the openings by. i lost everything i had in that pack. still, that didn't bother me. richard runner, when he landed all he had with a knife in his boot. everything else was gone. i had a rifle, it was in three pieces. that got to the ground with me. i got that put together quickly. i had at least a rifle. i had a bazooka that i threw away because i found out it was not working. the plane had torn it up. we had all of these elaborate passwords that the germans would've had trouble -- welcome. german cannot pronounce welcomed very

clearly. he pronounces it with a german accent. thunder and flash for the three passwords. what happened to me, we had these clickers. i don't think any of our guys use the quicker. very few of them remembered to use the passwords. we all knew each other. the guy that landed next to me in close range, he tip he knew who i was. i knew who he was. we trained together for a year, almost two years. i i very quickly, the two of us were looking for other stragglers to form a group large enough to do some damage. we did that. we finally wound up with about 17 or 18 man. no officers. that didn't matter,

we could handle it. we had no automatic weapons. that didn't matter, we could handle it. the chances were much more upset with this disorder than we were. we finally had enough man to attack, that was the training of our mission. find a place to attack. we attacked it with 18 and took it very quickly. >> and tipper, cocky and confident. that was the way the whole company was. that they didn't use the crickets. the quickest way once they found each other. the clickers, one click. sometimes and programs to say [noise] when you hear one, i want to get the answer from one of you are

coming back here. that is how we are going to bring it all together. all of you fans have a great program. it is gonna be a wonderful day. i think i will turn this over right now to michael bell who will get us started with this first session. thank you very much! [applause] thank you, nick. i am mike bell and executive director at the museum for the institute for the study of worn to markedly. the scholars commuted to scholarship, research, higher education and public programming such as this,

dedicated to promoting the history of world war ii. the relationship between the war and america's democratic system. the wars continued relevance in our world. as such, it is our honor to be part of this today. our symposium kicks off today with a panel called reel to reel, spielberg, hanks, and the search for authenticity. the panel is comprised of the producers, casting directors, and riders who literally had the front row seats to the creation of what became the blockbuster miniseries. we are going to be honored to get a glimpse of how they worked together. really to honor the legacy and the service of those veterans. to bring to life a story that has been part of my professional life for 30 years. a book that came out in 1992 that has always been on my short list of professional readings for those who are interested. i should say i got this from my

brother-in-law who was a infantry patron leader in the 101st. he thought that was the best thing he can provide me on my birthday. i have got to say this has been a legacy that has continued on. of course what this has done is, not just educate, but also entertain millions and millions. also hopefully inspired them moving forward. to moderate day session we are going to turn to kirk saduski, he has double duty after yesterday, we brought him to the stage. we will see him throughout this. there are a full buyout in the programs but just some highlights from his impressive body of work he has been and executive in a producer at play tone for 23 years. in addition to brand of brothers, his talents have been integral in john adams, david mccullough, painting the word, the pacific.

many of you will soon benefit from him. he has been working on the upcoming masters of the air, which is about the b-17s's that flew over europe. some of you may not have noticed but you've got one hanging over you right now some of you may not have seen that yet. it is pretty darn awesome. in addition to the impressive production coming here he has been a dear friend and adviser to the museum incredible insightful and creative person. with that, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming

kirk saduski and our team to the stage. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. thank you. thank you, dr. bell. thank you, nick. yes,

this is the twice delayed 20th anniversary of band of brothers. we are happy to be here everybody is happy to be here so 22 years ago now band of brothers premiered on september 9th 2001 we know what that date means because of what happened two days later. it is relevant to us here because that meant for the next two months of sundays on hbo, america and the world, could tune into america at its best. what america is capable of doing and america's best citizens with band of brothers one of us has heard over the past 20 years we've heard so much about one of the best things in the show we will talk about the origin of every episode started with clips of the real man of easy company

we're gonna talk about that today. i think that set the tone again every sunday for two months america literally got to tune into who literally was the best we had in america. band of brothers started in late 1998 99 after the success, the unexpected success of saving private ryan. tom hanks's agent suggested another book, a book called citizen soldiers by steven ambrose. maybe we should turn that into a movie obviously there is an appetite for world war ii stories tommy just did not that book but there was a book called band of brothers by the same author which he had read in preparation to play captain miller in saving private ryan. we took a look and it sounded pretty interesting to us tom

and his partner, jerry gets man went to hbo. they were equally excited. stephen spielberg got involved and away we went one of the first things we did was send a film crew around to meet and interview as many of the man as we could. we went to dick winter's farm we went to a cart way liberals home to malarkey's home pop by winds home et cetera saderup across the world are third session today we will get into some depth with that we went out and met the man i think key to that was meeting, also, richard winters richard winters was

still the company commander he still had a hold on his man he was still their leader. richard winters has also kept meticulous journals maps. he had documented what he and easy company had endured and achieved i've talked to some of the guys about it over the

years we are all convinced that dick suspected two things one day the world really will want to hear their story and second one day is home would come along. luckily for us he kept all of that stuff, just for us, so we could tell their story the next thing we did after sending out phone crews is we were asked to identify some screenwriters. who could take this book these man and turn it into compelling drama. we hired, we met with and eventually brought on eric gentleman. eric had already worked with tom. backs wry, bruce mckenna, john or loft. it became i know it has become a cliché but they became a band of riders. the next thing is -- this began to be one of the executive producers. he had worked with tom on advance to the moon on hbo. we were putting the team in place but then we had to do it. one of the first things we did was introduce eric to richard winters. i'm gonna ask eric to explain that initial contact and relationship with major winters. >> thanks, kirk. yeah, i found myself past with this responsibility of having

to break the first egg. i did as much research as i possibly could in advance. finally, sort of pulled up my boot straps in made this phone call to her she pennsylvania i got winters on the phone and i gushed and i explain very rapidly who i was and what hbo is doing with tom hanks of doing the remarkable experience this was it was unprecedented we were being given carte blanche to tell their stories in a way that it actually happened! my responsibility as designated lead writer to assemble all the facts get together with him to create a bible for this first

step i went on and on there was dead silence on the phone and he said, had a why i know you are who you say you are? [laughs] i realized at that moment that this was going to be a real journey. i was about to meet a really remarkable man. i traveled to hershey and i met ethel, and ed winters. he and i always referred to each other winters and gender a son. i could never bring myself to call him and. he brought me up to his office, the little saying to ms. and torment the top of the stairs. i turn the corner, he went to his desk. he gesture to a leather chair in the corner. have a seat. i was about to take a seat when i notice something behind the chair. watching me like a hawk and i said, are those what i think they are? he said, yes. i said, may i? i picked up this pair of corcoran jump boots. immediately almost reflectively i look for the tiny throughout the whole that i knew would be there. he saw that. i think he

immediately knew that i had at least come somewhat prepared. i put them back down i sat down and he looked at me and said. he slid a document across the desk to me. we hadn't really exchange many words but he said, i'd like you to take a look at this, first of all. i pick it up, it's a letter from shifty powers daughter to winters addressing one of the few mistakes that stephen ambrose had made in his book which shifty had been blamed for. something that he was not guilty of. it kind of destroyed shifty. because during the crafting of the book, winters had been the nexus for all of the men. all of their reminiscent's, all the documents and stuff had gone through winters, to ambrose. he was seen, still, as the leader of the company and the nexus for all this information. she had reached out to winters, hearing that there would be something, maybe on television

about all this, could something be done about this? i felt his eyes on me as i read this thing. i finished reading it, i sort of back across the table and i said, i guess that's our first order of business. to write that wrong and many others that might have inadvertently occurred. let's get started. we started to talk and it was the beginning of what would be a developing into a profound friendship. we worked together as he turned over to me all the materials that he had it was about a six foot boxes that i would end up bringing back to charlotte north carolina. not only was he in possession of all the materials that have been sent to him by on the other man. also the publication of the book had inspired more regulations. more memories. he

had amassed just an incredible amount of data. more than ambrose had available to him when he wrote the book. it was all dumped on me. we began that process of working with him on a daily basis. >> let's talk a little bit more about that. you, then, started to write what we call it bible. an outline of the series. by that point we had started to bring on some of the other riders. you all had to collaborate talk about how you divvied up the episodes. who decided to write what episodes? how did you even break it down into episodes? >> the first up was all this work with winters over the first six months of crafting the bible, getting to a point where he felt it was an accurate account of what happened. the idea of the bible was not necessarily to tell the story, to take storytelling choices, that was going to be left to the rioters. but to have all of the facts there. it was broken down into 13 episodes, initially. this is what winters like to

call the fact positive account of what happened after that it was about 270 page document the ultimate and reference work for any member -- writing to production design, everything was their sack chapped by winters and some of the other man with that document we were able to start to plan i think that i was given the first choice. i just decided to pick episode 15 and ten. >> which episodes >> the first episode of chico. crossroads, which i felt a real responsibility to

write. it's such an intimate stories about winters and the crossroad of his life. on the dike in holland october 5th, 1944. and then the final episode, which i had some exquisite help with from the crew here i picked 15 and the end i left it up to the other guys to pick their episodes i believe john or loft just episodes to a nine, if i'm not mistaken. >> how they were divvied up and who chose which episodes is still kind of a mystery to me. >> can you help us? can you remember how you defeat up the episodes? >> i don't. i really would defer to them to come up here and explain themselves. >> i only remember that i chose to write episode eight because i liked the self contained story that

was in the bible something about the beginning middle and end of the last patrol on shows that one to be the first one the other guys came on board choices were made i don't remember, you guys remember? they are saving it for their panel, come on! there are other responsibilities. so, as i mentioned, playtone brought on an old friend, tony toe to be executive producer and to help stephen tom and gary to produce the entire show you had worked with tom on earth to the moon can you talk about what you remember about coming on the band of brothers? >> i think, i

was in a wheat field in vancouver directing something and i got a call on my cell phone. it was tom hanks saying, i'm doing this thing called, band of brothers. we'd love for you to come on board and i didn't know how to extricate myself from what i was doing, because it had been a show that i had developed and sold to fox, but when tom hanks calls you, you go, yes. i remember seeing what eric had done and knowing about graham yost, and bruce mckenna, and john orloff and my

old friend eric bork. i knew we were really in good hands with great storytellers. that feeling that tom and stephen and the writers inspired in all of us to honor these men. i think that's what drove all of us. >> and of course another major component was who's gonna play richard winters, who's gonna play bill garner, who's gonna play ed tipper. so we went to meg liberman, who is a legendary casting director, you obviously know her credits. meg, tell us about that. how did you get it so pitch perfect? i'm sure you hear it even more than we do. yes, of course. of course frank was the perfect bill. you hear that on and on. how did you make the connection between real man and actor? >> originally the only thing that i had to work from was the photographs of the real guys,

and a lot of the interviews from, we stand alone together. i had access to that. in order to audition the actors i had one scene, from episode eight. i think i read that with all the actors for eight months? i don't know, it was a very long period of time. the biggest factor for me was to try to figure out who felt like they could play the period. a lot of actors felt too contemporary. everybody was from various places. what we did was, i think it was in december of 99 we had a big call with stephen spielberg and tom hanks. we had

group scenes by that point. we hadn't made any decisions on. we brought 44 actors, none of the british actors at that point, just the american actors. we mix and match them for hours. then it became a little more clear of who was who. on that day i think we made maybe five decisions about who we thought would be for sure frank that was one who became clear. several others. it was a very long process. really, really, fantastic. >> the casten's, you know, i don't know the exact percentage but there is a large british contingent in this cast. how did you guys determine who, what part would go to a british actor? brit or yank? i didn't fall out that symmetrically? >>

i think, for me personally, i really wanted an american actor to play dick winter. we had a lot of conversations about that. at the point where damian, we were simultaneously casting in the uk the whole time. once we started -- once we had choices here, we knew we were gonna have to cast a lot of actors in the uk. it didn't ultimately make sense to not. >> tell the people why we had to cast many actors out of the uk? >> because we were shooting in the uk. that is a big part. yeah, i don't know how these things are ultimately decided but i work on a lot of stuff that shoots out of town. for the main guys you want to have, you know, the bigger roles you want to have americans. that's what you think but then we would fill some of the other

parts with the brits. do you have thoughts about that? >> do you want to talk about production? for us having tom and stephen it allowed us the freedom -- in our business there is a sensation on casting big names. for this we were allowed to look for the best actor for the best par.. you see ross up here, he is scottish. he does scott lee perfectly. i think we cast a big wide net looking for the best actor for the part. i remember that we weren't trying to cast dick winters as an american, from an american actor. damien walked in to casting session in england i think on a wednesday. i said, what do you doing this weekend?

he said, nothing. i said, great. you're coming back with me to america. we have a big on dish and on friday. i want you to come in, be in the middle of the pack and speak with an american accent. that's what we did. when he came in and read with tom, and meg. and after he left they both looked at each other and said he's the guy. >> it was pretty undeniable. do i recall correctly and did stephen see him playing hamlet in london? >> yeah, yeah. >> can you tell us about that? >> and came down to two actors. one of the actors was a canadian actor. the other one was damian. we had arranged for an in-person meeting with stephen on a saturday. they

both came in stephen said oh you look very familiar! were you layer teas on broadway with ray fines? damian said, yes! stephen and tom said, oh, we went to see that together. i think it was a little bit of destiny. >> i wanted to say one other thing that was pretty extraordinary about this. tom was prepping to do cast away. he and his giant beard -- he was losing way but he wasn't practically every audition and often read with the actors. it was pretty fantastic. >> i just want to say, even as we talk about damian's casting, it was

so important to cast all the other actors. i mean, it's band of brothers, right? we were so happy to have my coal, john, frank ross and all of the other actors. of course -- further casting it isn't really a band of brothers. without each one of them we wouldn't have had what we had. >> again, frank, mike, and ross and other actors are going to be peppered throughout the other panels all day. tell us about that process tell us about the process of when you've got the initial call and how you prepared. when you first did come into addition for tom interest even. tell us about that. >> >> i'll

give you the british version. every actor in my age group was aware of the show. the whisper around town was happening i believe it was a wide net they were casting throughout the u.s., the uk, perhaps even australia. i remember my agent calling me and saying, go buy this book. i had a relatively good education so i knew much about world war ii. i didn't, however, know too much about the american soldiers at that point. i dug deep before he even came into me my first meeting. was with a star that we like to call mag. she came with the reputation. that reputation our field is she is

one of the best. you had better be on your toes. you better come in, be prepared. she has no time for anyone coming in with any kind of nonsense. it was that the royal hotel on pickett dili in london, i remember it well. i want to say hi to mag. and can, she was seeing every actor in town so it was a busy day for her. we had ten, 15 minutes to try to make an impression. i remember i was doing a reading. she read opposite me, after my first take she just stared at me for an inappropriate amount of time. [laughs] i was like, this way one way or the other here kid. she picked up her chair, she moved it closer to me, sat in front of me, look me dead in

the eye and said, do that again. i said, yes ma'am. we did it again. she told me there and then in the room. listen, tom is gonna be here next week. i would like you to come back and meet mr. hanks. i tried to be super cool and go, great, no worries. i'll see you next week. for the next week and i did not draw my american accent. my whole family thought i was insane. all my friends thought i was an idiot. they also knew i was an actor so i guess they gave me a little leeway. the following week i went into meet tom. it was a very powerful room, of course. like make said he had the beard, bandana, he is one of the most charming men in the world. what you see is what you get with tom. he made me very comfortable. we goofed around

for a little bit. we read a little bit. i would like to say we became friends. i don't know he would think that same thing but i tell everyone we became best friends that day. i just thought i would start researching -- explained to someone yesterday that i went to the local library, this is before the internet. that's how old we all are. i studied the paratrooper song. i wrote it down, i learned to. i had a booklet full of information about these men and about the war. i decided early on i would pretend i was american from day one. i would go in and introduce myself as ross in my best east coast new york accent. i just had a plethora of knowledge that really meant nothing in that audition. no one was gonna give me a test. but i left leaving the tom addition, am i finally won -- a lot of guys i know had like eight auditions for the show.

back-to-back-to-back. i got very lucky, i had three. my third one was with tony in meg in london. i told tony the story last night just to recap the. we sat down, i believe i had spears speech from episode three. a big monologue. i sat in front of tony and decided to be brave and put my sights down on the floor because i knew i knew it. we conducted. he said something beautiful to me in that moment, again, it could've been, good job kid but it ain't happening. it could be, you've got this. he said something so perfect i don't need to see again. i remember walking out of that audition thinking, he's either saying, kid, go do something else! or, i really like it. just as i was leaving maggie said to me, ross, where

he from again? i knew she was trying to get me to admit that i was a brit. i turned around and i said, yonkers. [laughs] >> thank you, ross. before we get to mike and frank, how did you pick ross and lee scott, a cabdriver from san francisco? you are picking this young scottish boy. how did you make that connection? i don't know that i have an exact answer for that right now. tony has said this. this project was sort of touched with fairy dust. it is ultimately alchemy. i think in the case of least gosh, i think all of the characteristics of what he brought, when he auditioned for, with a lot of the actors we just figured out, it was like a puzzle. we had to figure out who is going to be

who. at the end of the day, it's a word i used a law in casting, it became very organic. >> frank, meg said you are one of the first if not the first man cast. tell us about that. how you've got to know bill garnier. >> i'll try to tell you three quick casting things. i got the first audition for band of brothers, my great uncle had served in the pacific. i was very interested in what were two. i got the book in bronson-able i read the book standing in the aisle. i started the book and i just read the whole book. >> did you buy a? >> yeah, i bought. it i bought it! [laughs] i stole it. on how you got in the size, the episode eight signs. i think it with colin. i'm not sure, the person who was a west point graduate. i felt that i didn't have a good connection to this character. i did all the research echoed on that

character. heard he went to west point i went to a secondhand shop and find the west point ring. and put that on, anything that would ground me to him. i read with angela's partner at the time, an incredible actress herself. she was right here in meg was in the corner with her legs crossed saying nothing. she was very intimidating. right? mac was very intimidating in the room. i rad and i tried to clean all the south bronx out of my being to do this west point guy. when i got done she said, you know frank, some of these guys are gonna be dead and kids. can you do an east coast thing. i said, let me thank. it's a stretch. you know? i thought, yeah! i've got a shot. then we had other auditions. i had an audition with tom, tony, in may. during that they had the pictures of the men on the wall. they had a picture of bill. right beside

my head with tom. when i got down with tom he said, frank john hughes you just made my day. i said, this man is an actor. if he's saying that just to make me feel good it is really evil, you know? i i hope he means that. i said something terrible. tony, do you remember? i said -- i said this in all sincerity, i said, before i left and said bill garnier gave dislike for this country. i would give both of mine to be part of this project. i meant to be serious and a little funny and it came off psycho. >> not really. we loved. >> i blew a! right at the last moment as i went out the door! near the last on dish i had gone to see mag, meg said -- we were talking in a knew this was the final cut coming up. meg said to me, there is a tape on

my desk. the man you're playing may or may not be on that tape. it's some of the footage from the veterans, you know? he said, i'm gonna go to the bathroom. when i come back the tape may or may not be here. okay, maybe she's trying to get me balanced. i cleft, we send our goodbyes, i took the tape. i put it on and that was the first time i saw bell talk. when he talked or saw he had that great under by. i thought i would do it for the last addiction. you do for additions you should keep doing what you're doing, you shouldn't change it up. i felt like he was going to be seen from the show, it would seem lazy if i didn't do it. i did that last addition and it went -- and felt like it went good. we were mixing in matching. i have been in the first two groups and then i just hung out for eight hours. i said, it's not gonna happen. in one of the groups were a lot of famous guys

getting together. i said, there is your cast. we waited around we left and we got the car to go home everyone was calling me ask me how went? while i was in the parking lot my phone ring it was my agent. he told me that i got it. i don't know how that car got from santa monica to calabasas. i really don't remember driving home. i checked the grill for like hair and blood. and how to drive down ventura boulevard on the sidewalk. i had no idea. >> mike, tell us about your experience. >> mine was a little simpler. no, no, it was. >> did you read for compton one point? >> i read the compton speech when he's talking about, this is the same through history. they came down from the hala. it was this wonderful

speech i remember hours working at the time i was doing construction so i didn't get time off. i had a zip down to the building where we all were. i had the speech and i'm reading for bob compton. no, actually, everyone is reading the bob compton speech. i was like, oh, oh okay. i was very distracted. i went and i had a really wonderful history with mag. when i went in i had a great time with her, did the audition. i don't think i heard from you guys for a long time. when you do this for a while when you go from addition to addition here next addition is what pulls you out of here last horrible experience. i think that one, let's hope tomorrow brings another addition so i

can forget about that. about three or four weeks later i get a call and they say, yeah they're gonna do the mix and match. you're gonna meet with some of the other guys. tom and stephen are gonna be there. we went in but there is a lot of guys there. a lot of guys! a lot of famous guys there. i don't know if i'm allowed to say who so, there may or may not have been rick schroeder sitting there reading for dick winters. the whole cast from the outsiders. it seemed like there was just a group of famous guys and there was a group of guys that i knew. [laughs] the famous guys went through the thing. another thing with actors going into an addition he show out, sit down, you think, rick schroeder is here. i'd cast rich rotor. rick schroeder's got the job. i guess they are just being nice to me. you see all these guys go through they all leave we are going through and we did this work session with tom. at

the time they were toying the idea of -- the man on leave and having family stuff. not just the man but the man in town. you have the kinds with the diner on these guys on the eve we had to get a day passed there is one waitress everyone's trying to get her attention. trying to talk to the cute girl. you realize the series one away from that because what it does is it to traction what the men were doing. the bonding of the group. we started doing those scenes, i'm sitting in this audition with a bunch of other guys, tom is reading with us. stephen is on some huge many cam filming everything, and held. tripping over a light stands. a, let's do that again. stephen spielberg! it was the

most surreal addition experience i ever had. i was thinking more about stephen being in the room than i was about doing the material. i think we learned very early on that, at least i did, they were about to make a decision. are we gonna go with a group of actors that are well known that could make them a lot of money and people would watch. or we can go with a group of man who had a bunch of experience, all great character actors, who would become these man. i think that is the very conscious decision that they made. i think it was a phenomenal decision. from a business standpoint, and creative standpoint and the position of honoring the legacy of these

men. >> jim maduro can't be here. he is such a huge part of this. i had a quick interaction with him i didn't know jim -- >> can you tell everyone who -- >> james madio. at the mix and match one of the groups i was in was with jim. we started to talk a little bit. we are both from the south bronx. he was someone i really understood. jim is the truth. when he acts, he makes good actors look bad because you just believes everything that comes out jim's mouth. we're talking a little bit, the addition starts, everyone is there. tom is there, stephen's filming. we are getting ready and stephen puts down the camera and he's like,

jimmy! if this guy is reading for garnier than i've got no shot. he's just a better actor and stephen knows him. the fact that anyone would know stephen was so intimidating to me. i didn't know that he had worked with stephen before. he crushed it. when he showed up in boot camp i was so happy to see him. i knew we were in good hands. if they're casting people like this then i know we're in good hands. >> the commitment from tom and stephen to this project made us all commit the same way. tom read with every actor in every session that i was in. he spent days and days and days patiently reading with every actor. he was very, very, generous. stephen never casts

in person, he only cast by tape because of what they just said. it changes the room because everyone is going, it's stephen spielberg! i think that for stephen and tom to do that mix and match, that was a huge commitment. we all felt that will. the other thing is, the reason we did the mix and match, it was the first script that we got from eric. we use that script for all the parts. that script didn't really give us all of the characters. that's why we did the mix and match. >> if i could add something to. meg touched on it, tony touched on it. everyone is touching on something that really needs to be talked about. it is something that cannot be overlooked. it is something that distinguishes this entire experience and all of our experiences working with

hollywood in actors, filmmakers, producers. there were something from this topic from jump. hbo had given us carte blanche that was unprecedented. an executive attitude that we as executives in hbo don't know how to tell stories. this was chris albrecht saying we are going to assemble the right team and just leave them alone. let them do what they do. first of all there was an extraordinary responsibility attached to this freedom. more importantly, primarily, from the word go there was a sense, this awareness, that we were making a gi movie. we had this extraordinary responsibility to serve the stories of these specific men, the men of easing company. what ambrose had done, it was in the bible, it was always there! everybody who came before had this oh my gosh feeling. this is not just a gig. there was something special about it. there was this sense of responsibility. it wasn't a lodestone for anybody, it was more like rocket fuel. everybody was so passionate about getting out of the way, setting the egos aside and serving the story. it distinguishes the work on this realm from casting to producing, certainly acting and all of the writing in a way that i think is unique in television history. >> i want to pursue

the writing process. once you guys were all -- once you had decided on your episodes and how you proceeded from there. how you interacted with, not just major winters, but bill guarnere and babe heffron and on and on. before that, john orlauf asked me, how did we get richard winters to trust us? eric, you said earlier that when you met him, it was basically show me. there were several things. one of which was we had sent, as i mentioned, a documentary team to film him at his home and eventually at his farm. jody, mark, those guys who again you will meet jody later i think we won his trust that way. they knew what they were talking about. they were really interested in telling his story the way he would want to be told. as we mentioned it was him meeting eric. they really did form a real bond. it was as if dick had been waiting for the 40 years for you to come along, i think. to feed off what you are saying, tony. i yesterday tom cd

winters. not in the sense of come be my movie but i admire you. to use the over word, hero. you are a hero to me. you are the kind of man i want to be. i think dick really sense that from tom. it was that kind of courtship. i think that engender the trust. and once we had the trust of major winters i think you guys would agree, particularly you, eric, within we have the trust of the men. eric what was it like when you guys were talking, someone is writing, you are riding high enough, someone is writing karen town? you guys will get your shot later but, how did

you divvy that up? how much did you collaborate with each other even if it wasn't your episode. maybe you had an idea. you have an episode two idea if you're writing episode one. >> there were a rough story ideas in the episodes -- there was more just the positive account of what happened. the way into each episode, the conceit, the concept of each episode was really the inspiration of the individual writers. bruce, graham, and john, and backs. my

recollection, the normal way to do this would be for there to be a writers room everyone get together waste a lot of time as writers do talk about stuff and have that ideas. it was all virtually done over the phone we were writing the episode simultaneously, more elastic eric is working. on eight. bruce i think was on for -- i can't remember. i know john had to move, graham had seven. max is an episode three. they were all kind of happening simultaneously. they all had the bible as a reference but that could inspire other -- can you tell me more about this or unlock this? each specific question that they had. they

had all determined storytellers what their approach would be to their episode. there were questions that weren't answered in the bible they could come back to me at anytime and say, can we unpack this idea? they could answer just about any question. if they couldn't he could direct me to the person who could all of the riders had developed profound relationships with the principal characters. the men's that they were featuring in their stories. my focus was solely on winters. >> you guys collaborated the actors collaborated with each other there was collaboration between the riders in the men and the

actors in the men. all of you guys, please -- talk about that. there really was a symbiotic relationship between easy company and our production primarily with erik and the rioters and not just with winters, obviously. can you guys talk about that? >> i think what we were talking about earlier -- this whole show blood from the top down, right? everyone knew from the beginning how important the story was gonna be and what the legacy was going to entail. that was on everybody shoulders. it was like this is amazingly collaborative -- that goes back to the boot camp and putting us through our paces. we all knew from day one that this wasn't just an acting job. this wasn't just a movie we were doing. we knew we had to tell the story of these real

heroes and these rail man. we need to do that with touch truth, you know? obviously the script for written. when we came on board. not all of them, but most of them. i have to say from my standpoint, there was a real slope in communication with the writers. that doesn't happen terribly often where people could kind of express a story that they heard from a family member or a story that they heard from one of their bodies. it wasn't to glorify or build the ego of an actor. it was more about, is this something that should be told? my experience with all the riders was a phone call, a conversation, sometimes it might be a no sometimes it would be a, yeah, that's a great idea, let's try! it there was never a barricade there. which was wonderful. >> i had

had such incredible -- i was so lucky. a lot of,.! statistical. the men don't come out alive. i had such a strong veteran of bill. we became very close. we talked hours now is a day for months. i said this before, he was just as fearless in opening himself up and telling me things. these were not men who talked about these things. he knew the story was going to be told. he did it for everyone else in the company. he wanted to tell his version and be honest and let me have that info to do on to the other man. all of these men never talked about himself. if i had questions about something inside to him, what were you doing? i've said this before, it was almost like he was bringing coffee to the scene. he had nothing to do with it. he won a silver star! but it was like he wasn't there. he would tell you that everything else that everyone else would do. you realize you have to talk to the other vets to find

out what year vet did. you call major winters, lipton, they would talk endlessly about every man's heroism. the man wouldn't himself. because i had that accent, i remember calling eric and saying, bill told me this. can i say this? he had bill isms that were just so real. bill had his own vernacular. he had his own dictionary of terms. again, it wasn't ego. you're not trying to steal the scene but he's telling me he said this. eric and the rioters had no ego. if he said it, then say! if you don't find that a lot, you know? it was a very collaborative relationship that way. everybody was so researched. no one was threatened by anything if of that set a certain way to political mustard on something to make it more them then everybody was very open. the other vets were invaluable. >> you said a little mustard it's interesting because sometimes you would get a little flavor.

this is from the whole process i think from ambrose doing the book and the guys -- who were interviewed, their stories weren't told. we were able to get a hold of some of the guys, you guys for a for the documentary. as it unfolded, as frank was saying they realized, the story is going to be told. if i don't say anything, my part is not gonna be told. i'm not saying everybody was able to do that. to correct or wrong. it was amazing to me that our riders were so open to this information is coming in and changing daily. for me one of the things, i remember getting a call, hey we just found out that you were actually in the scene where the ngo signed the paper saying they were giving up their commission. i think i had the day off the next day. we are doing this thing, can you be in? it yeah, of course! i think three or four guys who are not and there's a return to that scene -- not because they didn't want them there but because no one knew they were there. when they found out the

rioters were just like, absolutely! they don't need to write anything, just be there. the willingness to do that. to change the story to make it correct, do not be locked into something that, oh i wrote that. you never have that sense you have the sense that everyone is trying to continually honor the men and the changing story the reason the story was changing is because moreinformation is coming in. >> yeah, i think people know yesterday were always talking about the authenticity and how much was true, the watch word was truth will out. if you did find something that altered something that you had already planned, but not necessarily shot. but, certainly if you had already planned, it is in the script, you had rehearsed. if you found something that changed that. no, this is really what happened. as much as possible, as much as practical, you would change it. >> and, also, there was no need for anything to be arbitrary.

because, we had such a treasure trove of information available to us. and, by a certain time there was so much trust and good well among the veterans, and, they had developed not just a relationship but friendship with the writers and the actors. and, so, it just burgeoned but there was no need for it to ever be arbitrary. the scene with zelenskyy in episode five, nixon's bacon sandwich is very specific. i can call and say if nixon wanted a snack what would he have? bacon sandwich. it would be a bacon sandwich [laughs] there is so much of that in the entire miniseries there was never really arbitrary choices. because you could always get a fat positive answer. evan, tony, as we talked we, you guys shot this in england. talk about that experience and talk about being there. tell everybody, i

mean, you guys were there for practically the same amount of time that the guys were in europe. >> i think, i just want to say that ivan was continuing that relationship that the rioters, and the amateurs had created with divots. and even continued that throughout the production, and after they production, it was very important to us. the research, the knowledge that came from the guys flowed into the rest of the production through even. the accuracy a, the salimah two was through ivan. >> you became pretty good friends with

richard winters yourself, tell us about that, you are very much as tony said a direct conduit onset, on location, talk about that. >> yes, i mean the first time i met major winters he put me through the wringer, a very similar, he does not become your friend very quickly. so, one, i had to get a letter from tom hanks saying it was okay that he talked to me. [laughs] to, i had a great undaunted courage overnight and give a book report to him the next day. i am not making this up. but, after that way, you know, we became very close. and, i went to visit him in hershey, you talk about the farm and every time i hear the line where i want to spend my ear on the

farm, i spent time in his farm in pennsylvania with him and his wife. and, also, there was a question onset i could call him a, my most amazing experience was when i thought i was gonna be in europe for ten days and i ended up being there for five years, i literally packed a bag to go to europe and retrace these companies steps. i picked the most remarkable thing i was able to do was, i had a cell phone and major winters number. and, if i was at the eagles next i would call him and i would say okay, walk me through it, where were you? where did you stand when you are in paris? tell me when you walked. i am going to go retrace your steps. and i did this for out the whole thing and it was really one of the most amazing experiences to be able to retrace the steps of

easy company, and have access to the guy that was leading these men. so, it was amazing. >> tell me, again, you said you guys were there for quite awhile, what was the experience of that, being in england for such a duration with these guys, and the conditions are not always great in england. so, tell that a little bit. >> it was the wettest year in 75 years when we shot ban the brothers. and, i think the guys will agree it added a certain texture, it added a certain tone that i think was really important to the show. and, slogging through the mud and the rain made you feel like you are there. i think that was the

most important thing for us. you heard about boot camp yesterday and how these guys became these guys. through boot camp. they think that way wanted to do on the production for them was to put them in the environment, so they would not have to imagine, oh, there is this building or there is this thing here, it was, let's build everything around them so they know who they are. there is wild bill, there is ball, there is josé, what stick them in those situations and those environments. >> well, let me read off of that because what you are saying yesterday when we were talking to dale, explain to the people what it was like, frank, you said something about at some point your mind tricky because you have all of this production

around you, and now you've got german pans hours coming at you, tell us what that was like and how it actually some ways but like you were really in battle. >> your mind to get tracked, you would follow your senses because you are in a position where you are open to this happening, we have all had this, every man here has had this experience where you would be in a battle scene and you would take a beat on a german soldier and fire, and he would fall, just by dumb luck. that was when he was supposed to go down, but you felt like you had shot someone. it was so realistic that your brain was constantly tricked. like we said, in that scene with breaching the woods and the german soldiers running beside them, and the panic you feel as you are realizing that this is not enough to fight off a tank. do i have enough ammo

with me, grenades. what can i do? while this is happening trees are exploding over your head that feel like real trees, you have no idea that these traits have been rigged to explode, and, in that moment you get one 1 millionth of what they might have felt, enough to fool your brain and to behaving in a real way in that scene. i think it is worth noting that in band of brothers there were no stunt doubles, all of the actors did all of the action. we tried to make it as safe as possible for them working in concert with a captain and his man, and a stunt team, and the special effects team. so that the explosions, when the bullet hits, all of that was raked so that these guys, and we developed a special explosions that these guys were safe to be near, but still felt the impact of it. and, i think that is the

reality of that. >> mostly safe. [laughs] where is your pinky? >> yeah, just to go on what tony was saying on how they immerse it, yes, and in all of the action sequences and all of the war sequences that was just vibrating throw us at all times, but even a production design on the show. what a shot in hatfield, we have to bear in mind we were literally having that and after lunch you could walk over the bridge. and then you'll be in another part of europe, and, every detail of this was a manse and you felt like you were in europe, you felt like you are in the correct time period. the buildings were built. they were shelled, out buildup, bullet holes in the

walls. no matter where he went to within this movie set you felt that there was 100% you are in the place you are supposed to be. this was down to the questions we had, there will world shirts for. i thought it was a loving year of weather, but, i am a brit. now, it was miserable. you know, the fact that we were really uncomfortable and wet, and it she. way had our boots taken care of so we were fine. but, we were so into what these men were going to go down to the higher ups. >> can i sit down, please, we are talking and with all of the panels. i think it would be remiss not to talk about everybody, every department, and every single person that participated in the show. because, yes, we would

not have the words if it was not for the riders, no action if it were not for the actors. but, if you walk through where they built a tanks. if you walk through wardrobe and where they put the uniforms, and the attention to detail and you walk through the armor and the guns, and what they did in putting rebar in the guns so that they would have not wait and would not just flop. there were thousands of people involved in making this, and, every single person, and i really believe this, and i know tony does because he has said it over and over again, is that we would not be sitting here if it were not for all of those people. [applause] you know,

because, it is easy for the people on screen, that is all you want to talk about. you get a lot of attention, ross,. [laughs] but, so many people and so many things happened and had to work together to make this work, and, it was just what made it a once in a lifetime and remarkable experience, all of those people were working towards the same goal, and it is what you see on screen. >> can i say something based off of what ivan just said? the first week we were shooting in the marshaling area around the plains there was a lot of free time where you could walk, and i used to smoke, i was having a cigarette and i walked three miles from camera, and some department head was chewing out one of his people because he did not believe the

mud splash on the tire well in a jeep that would never be on camera, it was that kind of a level. and, when dale is throwing a sobel out of the company, i would go to rooms in that building, go to the back of the room and open a drawer and there were field reports, it was that kind of detail. >> tony, i was going to say, tell everybody who tony pratte was. >> tony pratte was our production designer, he worked very closely with ivan, i haven't talked about retracing the steps of easy company. and, he took tom, and tony, and a lot of the production team on a bus, a plane through easy company trail. and, tony became the professor on, like everybody else on the production. like you are talking about. even the set dresser. everybody became an expert on world war ii, and on easy company. >> but tony is the designer, ultimately, he is responsible. >> he has, he is responsible for everything that

is in frame, that is not the actors tony was responsible for. he oversaw the costume department, the makeup department, and he was very meticulous about it. it is what frank said, you would pull a drawer out, it was never going to be on camera, but there were field reports in there, and it gave the actors who became these characters the reality, and it was seamless. >> i think, you can obviously tell it that occasion of everyone on the stage, and it is tony and frank, and everybody who they all suggested. that dedication was backstage equally. that was their contribution. everybody contributed to everybody else. the costume was right, then the webbing, absolutely. everything. again, frank, you are suggesting how important that was to you guys. do you

remember any specific moment where it affected your performance? >> i remember every morning they would wash our clothes when we wanted them washed, i know that might sound strange but there were certain elements of my uniforms that i did not want washed. my jacket was one of them, where i kept my cigars, it smelled like yesterday and yesterday was a good day, and we were at work, and now we are starting over and the best way to do that for me was to bury my face in my jacket, because it smelled like sweat and cigars. it smells like everything we were doing for the past month. so, for me,

do not touch my boots and do not touch my jacket. please clean everything else. everything about what they did, again. i am going to jump back to what ivan was saying and what tony was talking about with the construction. i paid my way through school doing construction for film and television, i was very aware of what was going on in the construction department in this amazing roundtable that tony had created of this pie chart of towns. and there was a round city if you were to look at it. there was like a 30 or 45-degree wedge lou be working on at one point while they were on the other side, rebuilding what we had blown up the week before, or deconstructing, or reconstructing what we were going to do next week. and we will jump around this pie. and the amazing coordination, because it was all really

filmed in the same place. and nothing stop for construction. they were building while they were shooting. when we got four weeks into the ship, four weeks scheduled for each episode. two weeks into the first section we started the next block. so, by the time we got four weeks into it we were shooting two episodes at a time, completely overlapping. you had to fall units and massive construction going on. all of this at the abandoned airfield. the coordination that went into that from the producing standpoint, and from the arc direction standpoint, and from the art directors organizing all of this was insane. and, on

top of it they were doing ratios. there was always another mini unit running around shooting something else. it was such a machine, at so many levels, that it became, in your mind, what must have gone into the war effort. everything that we were around was the only focus. the only job of it was to make this project. you were fully immersed in it. >> thanks, mike, we have to start winding down but i want to give everybody onstage a chance, you have all been a part, you all took part in a seminal, not just a television experience but an american cultural experience, obviously. so, eric i'm going to start with you, what has being part of a band of brothers, what has that meant to you and your life, what do you think panda brother really is? >> i think, certainly, for me, and i think for a speak for everybody on this who was involved creatively. the honor of having the opportunity to tell the story properly, and not in a hollywood way, to tell it with

integrity. just kind of an opportunity does not come along very often in the business, this one singularity, this one moment, and the opportunity to serve that story to serve soy telling and the idea, the opportunity to tell the story, it is about easy company but it is also standing for anybody who served in the e. t. o in world war ii. it was extraordinary. and, i feel tremendous sense of satisfaction and gratification, and i think the most important. what always comes back to me, especially being here, having done what we did, and being in a place like this, it reminds me of three words. winter is had this thing, we worked so hard together for so many months, we became so close. we were on the phone pretty much every day because, working on an episode and in the script i would be reading to him, and

calling him in north carolina. but, over the phone i would be reading to him the day's work. and i would always leave him with a list of questions, he would get the feedback, and, from that feedback i would always say something like, okay, well i will call you after lunch tomorrow. i will call you in the morning we will go over this again, i will talk you tomorrow, and he would always say the same thing, the same way of signing off every single time. he said, i'll be here. i'll be here. and from a man like dick winters this was the most reassuring words that anybody could hear. i'll be here. and, that feels, to me as though undoubtedly the spirit of winters, and shoulder to shoulder with the spirit of all of the men with whom he served will be here, in our hearts, and in our country, for as long as we remember them. that is what this is all about. and, so a great degree i feel there was

a mission accomplished. >> thank you, eric, frank? >> an actor's life is very singular, it is a very solo pursuit. in a sense if there is a lot of gladiator interacting. because, at the end of the day you have to compete against a lot of people, go into a room and when it, and if you do not your children do not eat and you do not have health coverage. it can be a very singular pursuit. and, what this did was take all of people who had to fight that fight and turn them into selfless human beings. and, seeing the bigger picture. where even to production you care more about these guys than yourself. that is the best way to survive and get through it. so becoming selfless was the gift that came,. and, to me was the real secret sauce of what makes the band a brother was this level of selflessness. if you have a brother you would do

anything for your brother. we had a taste of that with our group. and, when you get that going you start to feel a little bit of we had to do this. involved, they're in that beautiful cocoon. everything had the same commitment, drive, and intention. and, that is just impossible on most projects. >> eric? >> yes, i would echo everything that everyone has said. i love the teamwork, the camaraderie, the feeling of responsibility, of what you have done. it is a slightly different spin on it, maybe, for me, personally. before band brothers these four and a few other people had worked on another mini series with tom hanks. which is about the apollo space program. that was my first, real, professional project as a writer and junior producer. mentored by this gentleman, and, you know, we thought we did something pretty cool. right? it won the emmy for best miniseries, it won all the other awards for best

miniseries that you're. it launched careers. and, it was also paying tribute to a great american achievement, a great group of people. 400,000 people who made the moon landing possible. it was a very big deal. so then, a couple of years later tom is like, do you want to work on band of brothers? it was like, oh, another one of these. okay. another historical mini series. all right, what is banned brothers about? and, so, fast forward two years later, band of brothers is this cultural phenomenon. from the earth to the man, sometimes i have people say oh, i love that many series. i really like this episode and i am like. really? you saw that? it feels like a thing that we worked on 1 million years ago. whereas bands of brothers is like the godfather. we would always say like the godfather and other things we love and how they were touchstones. can you imagine being part of that? and,

the law would be the single word for me. the awe of the people out there who love it, who still love it, who when they find out you worked on and are like, you worked on band of brothers? oh my god! i always have to say, and it is true, i played a role and hundreds of other people were involved that need to be recognized. but, yeah, i did some of it. i am proud but i am more humbled that i got to be part of something that resonated beyond even the die hard type of people we have here who are really into world war ii as a subjects. beyond that, and internationally, of course. >> tony, do you have anything? >> i was lucky enough to work with tom and eric the, and even on for the earth to the moon. there is a preoccupation tom has that has affected all of us. it is this examination of the human spirit. the spirit that will overcome, and, this brotherhood in both of those

series. and in the pacific. i think that brotherhood, that spirit of that human spirit to overcome, that is the experience we got. and, we were inspired by easy company and the band of brothers. and, in some ways they gave us, all of us who worked on it. the thousands of people who worked on it, a sense of that. it will be something we will always treasure. >> thank you, ivan? >> two quick things, one, i got to be meat -- so, i ended up becoming very close with them. and, i went to the track with babe after we finished

shooting. babe and bill in shooting in philly. they are the most humble thing. every time i got off the phone babe and ask if i needed money? [laughs] i am okay, you know, he will pull out a wad of ones which i have. it is a lot of ones, it is like $25 in ones but he would always ask me if i needed something. and we went to the track, i won $100. and, this is over 20 years ago. and, i still carry that hundred dollar bill in my wallet to this day. that i won, i had it here two minutes ago. i better have it. that i won at the track with babe. and i'm

reminded every single day of their friendship. and what they did for us, and for this country. and all of the veterans, and everybody that is serving today. this is a constant reminder to me of the cost of freedom. and that we are allowed to meet today because of these man. and these people who served our country, and the veterans of world war ii. my grandfather was in a concentration camp, i watched lance berg. you can't watch it without just balling, right? and, this show has given me even more of a personal connection to this, it is the

gift that keeps on getting. it is amazing, it has been an amazing experience. this is just a reminder. thank you. [applause] >> i do not think i realized when we started this project, obviously, i do not think anybody did what the residence was going to be so many years later. it is so incredible to see the life after the show, and how incredibly close everybody is, and how casting in this show has changed all their lives. and you do not think about that when you are normally doing just any kind of show, because, you know, i did cast from the

earth to the moon and it was not, even though i love that project it was not that kind of experience. but this is just, this is resonated. to go to france and to be in normandy, and for me to meet the real guys. and to see the actors close to them was so moving. i do not know it just has resonance beyond. >> yes, definitely. ross? >> i mean, meg just summed it up. even with her emotions, it is just, and i mean that. this is a life-changing experience. as actors we tend to go from set to set. moving along to do other stuff that we are proud of. we are still talking about brandon brothers 22 years later. we are talking with such love and respect. and i sort of repeat myself here, but, being a working class boy from

glasgow to be able to, on a personal front, achieve some what of a dream. i always wanted to come to america. that was always my dream as an actor. tom hanks wrote the letter so i could get my green card so you can blame him. that is just like a sliver of what it means personally, but, truly the fact that i have been able to call some of these heroes friends. you know? i have been drinking with these men over the years and heard stories, joked, laughed, cried. on top of that, not only are we telling the story two generations, generations underneath us now have kids who are 17 and 18 years old coming up to me now, to this day, and they want to talk about band of brothers. we all go to airports throughout the world and we are staffed by servicemen and women

who are visibly shaking, and it has nothing to do with our job as actors. it is because of the story and because of these men. and, the emotion that is coming out of these people, they can barely speak. and, again, it is just because it meant so much to so many people. it allowed people to finally open up and talk to the grandparents. and talk to their fathers. i actually hear what they went through. and one more little level on that, i truly have met my best friends on the show. guys i would lay down in traffic for. and they would do the same for me, and, that has been such a bonding experience. it started with them putting us through this, it starts with

tom and steven putting together this great program, and meg and i've been coming, and everybody. the riders, everybody knew how important it was, and the fact that i can sit here with my best friends who i would call family, and we would all be in each other's lives for the rest of our lives because of the show. i am eternally grateful. it changed my life. >> thank you, ross. michael? >> it is interesting, when i had finished band of brothers, and we saw, it we all saw the premier and unaired. i remember turning to my wife and saying, if i never do anything else in my life as an actor i have done enough. for me. over the years what this project means in my own, personal life has taken its change. the project will always be out there. but we met these incredible men, had these incredible friendships. and, as ross was just saying,

ultimately for me the most, the biggest take away wound up being incredibly personal and incredibly selfish. i have some of, as ross has said, some of my closest friends in my life. who i will know for the rest of my life. so, it is not always life imitating art. sometimes art imitates life. i am okay with that. >> okay, thank, you mike. we are going to wrap up, we have a full day and i just wanted to say one thing. and i have discussed this in a different context with my friend. everyone on this stage, everyone you will meet today, we all get to take the bows. but, everyone on this change and everyone you meet today is very cognizant of the fact, we are taking the vows for what