Highlights & Tidbits from Band of Brothers 25th Anniversary Symposium Cast & Crew Panels: DAY ONE
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF DAY ONE PANELS
The first panel was smaller, included Shane Taylor (Roe), Rene Moreno (Ramirez), and Peter Youngblood Hills (Shifty), Freddie Joe Farnsworth (who worked w/ Dale Dye as the military advisor at the actors' bootcamp and on the show, and also played the guy on white horse in Carentan.
They covered some general stuff, though good chunk of it focused on how the military advisors influenced the production, esp. the actors both in training and in set, and Band of Brothers' legacy among military community, etc.
The second panel focused on casting, writing and putting together research and scripts, experiences of the actors w/ their vets, and the actors' experiences overall/how it affected them, and a bonus Dale Dye moment at the end
It included the casting team (Meg Liberman, etc.), some of the producers and writers (Tony To, Erik Jendresen, Ivan Schwartz, etc.) actors James Madio (Perconte), Dexter Fletcher (Martin), Frank John Hughes (Guarnere), Ross McCall (Liebgott), Shane Taylor (Roe), and Rick Gomez (Luz). Also, two brief Tom Hanks Zoom cameos (no mention of deleted scenes đ)
In the audience for this panel, I spotted Eion Bailey, Richard Speight Jr., Matthew Settle, Robin Laing, Dale Dye, and Tim Matthews. Several notable crew/creative team also were in audience, e.g. Anthony Pratt, Bruce McKenna.
Ready? Here we go!
GENERAL TIDBITS
- Playtone producer/chair of second panel Kirk Saduski implied that Tom Hanks mightâve known about 9/11 before it happened đ
- Dexter Fletcher accent jumpscare
- Shane Tayor introducing himself saying he was âon home turfâ (at the event in New Orleans) đ„°
- âitâs a love storyâ (- one of the writers about Band of Brothers/the bonds between the Easy Company guys) đ
- Iâm obsessed with Dexterâs hair and accessorizing. Itâs giving pretentious theater critic
- Rene Moreno did a little bow down "weâre not worthy" gesture when Shane Taylor as Doc Roe got introduced in the first panel
- Shane has two daughters đ„č ("I'm surrounded by females, all smarter and prettier than me")
- Frank John Hughes just became a grandfather! He said, if he could talk to Guarnere again, he would pick his brain about his experience as a grandfather and great-grandfather đ„ș
- A guy on the first panel says they didnât actually teach the assault at Brecourt when he went to West Point in 2003 or so... another episode postscript falsehood!
- To pass the time waiting for wardrobe, etc., the cast had ping-pong tables off-set, and would have competitions
- Freddie Joe Farnsworth: âMadio, all 4 foot 1 of himâ đđđđ
- Rick Gomez: "It was an extraordinary show, made about extraordinary people, by extraordinary people, and when you get a chance to be exposed to extraordinary, that changes every cell in your body, because then you know what it is for the first time."
- Ross McCall: "We had the best of the best - our amazing (producers, directors, writers, cast, casting directors, costume, makeup, the list goes on and on and on)- we had the best of the best, except probably the English catering. That was the one thing that I think we probably couldâve done better. But apart from that, everything was top notch, so well done."
On the Vets Sharing their Stories
- In order for producer Ivan Schwarz to "prove himself" and earn Dick Wintersâ trust, Dick made Ivan not only bring him a letter of recommendation from Tom Hanks but ALSO made him read and then the next day (!) give him a book report of Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose.
- The producers said that Saving Private Ryan was groundbreaking in the graphic depiction of combat, and seeing the audienceâs openness to that and them gaining that frame of reference for what it was like, had an effect on the veterans' willingness to share.
- "A year before the 2000 Easy Co reunion it was: 'Grandpa wouldnât talk about it.' At this reunion, there was a line around the room for them to talk and share."
- Someoneâs favorite story about the whole experience of crew of writers & camera crew etc meeting & interviewing one of the vets was that there was a crowd of people around the house. The guy asked, "Was it bc they thought Tom Hanks was going to show up w/ them? No, it was because it was the first time grandpa was telling his stories." đ
On Writing
- The original outline for the show was 13 episodes đ„Č
- They received EIGHT (8) boxes worth of material that Easy vets had sent to Dick Winters for the show &/or that the publication of the Band of Brothers book inspired them to share, and that material was then compiled by writer Erik Jendresen and Tom Hanks into the Band of Brothers "Bible"
- Producer Kirk Saduski (the panel chair) asked Erik what he remembers from how they chose to divide up the episodes: âWell, it was 26 years ago, Kirkâ (Ross behind him, laughing)
- (On how they solved the problem to frame the events of EP 6, when everyone was paired off in their individual foxholes): "Well, there was one guy who was going around, looking for some scissorsâŠâ
- Writer discussing focusing on characters or pairs they thought it was most fitting to spotlight in each episode: "Well, Episode 6 was Roe and Babe, Episode 7 was Lipton and Speirs..." (me: đ)
On Casting
- Madio, being asked about his casting experience: âWell, I was first offered the role of Richard Winters...â
- Madio did his audition w/ Frank and Kirk Acevedo ("3 Bronx guysâ)
- During one of his first calls with Bill Guarnere, Frank asked if had any advice for his final audition, and Bill said: "Just remember, I was a 19-year old paid killer. Anything else?â (âAnd I said, 'No, thatâs good, sir'â)
- The story of casting Damian Lewis, told by @lupoteodoro in this post
- Ross, quoting Frank: âMeg didnât just cast the show, she cast our best friendsâ đ
- Tony To: "...and had privilege to meet Frank, Ross, Shane... all of these guys."
Rick:
On Ross McCall Kissing the Casting Director
Tony To revealed that when Ross McCall came into his audition, he kissed Meg Liberman on the mouth đł
Ross: Meg had a sign that said: 'Please Donât Shake Hands.' So me being me at 24 years old: "I see weâre not shaking hands, how about a kiss on the mouth." End of story.
Meg: And thatâs all it took.
(cue jokes that was ALL that happened, and the rest of the audition was all professional)
Later, Rick Gomez: âFirst, Iâd like to say I have the utmost respect for Meg Liberman and would never try to kiss her on the mouth. I would never say anything like that. I would never insinuate anything like that. And Meg knows that. Meg knows that, deeply. And I want this audience to know that as well.â (Tony, visible within frame, was laughing his ass off)
On Learning about their Vets
- Ross: "All the other guys who were casted got all this material on the vets they were portraying, or got to meet them. All I got was a manilla envelope w/ ONE picture, a picture from the book." (He later explained that he got most of his info from the book and from the Easy Co vets, who he said were happy to talk about their buddy)
- Ross, on Liebgott : âHe had a little bit of spice to him, which I liked."
(Sidenote: Someone needs to tell Ross that Liebgott wasnât actually Jewish! Also, Ross said (in the interview snippets in between panels) that he spoke German due to his grandmother being German, which is also not true.)
- Frank said that Bill Guarnere always answered the phone by saying âYowzaâ đ
- Frank, on talking w/ the real Bill: "As fearless as he was in combat, as fearless as he was in the next hardest thing, which was sharing.â/"We talked 3 or 4 hours every day. I knew how he felt about everything, there was nothing unsaid between us."
- Guarnere wouldnât talk about Bastogne, so Frank got that info from Carwood Lipton (whom he described as "a classy, elegant, wonderful guy.") @lupoteodoro tells the whole story in this post
- Ross: "When Bill and Babe came down on set, it was like The Beatles had arrived."
- The vets were not really into talking about themselves/things that they did, but would love to talk about their buddies/things their buddies did
- Peter Youngblood Hills went to visit the real Shifty (who coincidentally lived an hour away from his mother's house), and spent a few days with him, learning to imitate Shifty's shooting style, etc. One time, Peter slept in, and Shifty was like: âWeâre not gonna win the war if youâre sleepinâ in bed!â and another time, joking that: âI was gonna adopt you, but you eat too much."
- Shifty's line in Ep 7 about his dad being an excellent shot was entirely verbatim from his own conversations with Shifty
Pics I found online from that visit
On Bootcamp
- Shane said it was 12 days, Tom Hanks said 3 weeks, Ross said 10 days, Freddie Joe said 14 days, Dale Dye said 13 days⊠đ€·
- Freddie Joe expanded on the psychological techniques they used building up the actors' resentment towards Sobel- e.g. they'd give (David Schwimmer) the wrong answers/instructions, and then give (Damian Lewis) the correct ones. He also secretly gave Compton, Guarnere, and the other sergeants some commissary boot polish, carton of smokes, etc., but then they turned around and were giving it out to the rest of the guys in their squads.
- Freddie Joe, when asked about any injuries at bootcamp: âWe found out Doc Roe can't do stitches yet.â (Shane: âI thought I could.â)
- Peter said that they picked a specific thing for each of (the actors) to become really, really good at
- Frank: "During actors bootcamp, Shane, being trained as a medic, would come and wrap feet, etc. At one point I said: 'Doc what the hell are you doing? You were in West End two weeks ago, now youâre my primary care physician!' And no one doubted him! If you got hurt, you yelled for him, and he fixed you."
- Shane: "Firstly, let me say that Freddie Joe petrified me"
- At the end of each day, Shane would have to make rounds to check on everybody, to patch them up, or also just listen to them vent about how they were doing. He said he loved that additional responsibility, and he found that he really loved talking care of people.
On Production Design
- They shot almost everything just outside of London in Hartfordshire and Hatfield
- Pretty much everything besides the concentration camp, Hatfield House, and Zell am Se, was filmed either in a disused airfield in Hatfield, or in the two huge warehouses they rented.
- Warehouse-filmed scenes included everything from Bastogne, Eagles Nest, Paris, and even the river from episode 8
On the Strict Expectations for Actors On Set
- It was finally about 6 months down the line that the actors started to know each others (real) names!
- Freddie Joe gave an example in which went looking for Donnie Wahlberg, expecting to find him in his trailer (which he was not allowed to do) and bust him, only to find that all the background performers and his (Donnie's) team were inside his trailer, and Donnie was sitting outside on the ground.
- Rene: "It was mandatory to carry your weapons from moment you got to set to moment you leave, you couldnât set them down."
"Oh you could! but we didnât."
"I forgot once⊠Just once."
Peter and Matthew Leitch
Poster and still from the movie AKA (2002)
Peter brought this up, when answering a question about staying in role while on set.
Just prior to Band of Brothers, he and Matthew Leitch had been in a movie together playing gay lovers, and, being in this experience as actors on Band of Brothers/on set, Peter said, they had to be "brought back to their senses to some degree." đ
Peter ALSO mentioned how the previous role he had just come off filming had been as a male prostitute. (At this, Rene, grinning, pointed in acknowledgment to someone in the audience? no idea who or why)
Afterwards, Freddie Joe (who I think may have been learning all this information for the first time) stated that he and Dale Dye did NOT know that Peter & Matthew had done that (movie) together beforehand, and that he wished he had known that information. He joked that he definitely would've put them in different barracks.
The Clubbing in London Story
Peter brought up a memorable moment of Jim Madio from a night out (Shane: âThereâs always a Madio Momentâ) and Shane told the full story:Â
The cast was out in London at a club in Soho one night. They were up on the second floor, in front of some large windows. Outside below were half a dozen huge, rowdy, drunk guys, who started shouting up at a woman in the cast's group (the girlfriend of Bart Ruspoli, who played Tipper.)
He (Madio) heard them, and took off his shirt (âlike a muscular Mighty Mouseâ) and took off down the stairs and out to the street. The rest of the group ran down to follow him, and saw Madio running after them down the street, chasing these big guys off down the block and around the corner.Â
Last but not least... Ross McCallâs Dale Dye Tribute
At the end of the second panel, Ross McCall went up the podium, looking like he was going to announce he was running for elected office, and gave a wonderful speech about bootcamp and Dale Dye
- The freshly-cast actors each got sent a letter, hand typed like 1942 being invited to bootcamp. Their instructions were they could only bring: reading materials of a religious nature, a piece of paper and pencil, towel (army green), and their gym attire.
- âWe were yelled at more than any human beings have ever been yelled at, and we sorta lapped it up and loved it."
- "He (Dale Dye) knew what made each one of us tick. He knew what would break us down. And he knew how to pull us back up again"
- "I was a little cheeky back then, go figure. I used to get away with murder with this man. When he was yelling out orders, or chewing someone to pieces, I would make some stupid dry comment. And, kinda like my dad, he had a smile, 'cause he knew there was no malice. He knew I was there to do a job and he knew I took it really, really seriously, as did all the men."
(Meanwhile Iâm wondering: "Okay, but where heâs going with this? Did Dale Dye die just recently and I didn't hear about it? Is this speech a promotional announcement for a new "actors' bootcamp" for tourists?")
Surprise! They are giving him a paver stone tribute at the museum
Dale Dye: âFor once in my miserable, misbegotten life, I'm speechless."
To end his brief remarks, he offered his principle of leadership: "You have to love 'em to lead 'em, and I love 'em.â đ
ANY GHOST WILL TELL YOU â THE LAST THING WE MEAN TO DO IS LEAVE YOU
evening star by natural history // persephone the wanderer by louise glĂŒck // band of brothers by hbo // whoâs there? every story is a ghost story by ed simon // unknown // october by louise glĂŒck // song by louise glĂŒck // the opposite of a haunting is something very lonely by katie maria // tender, the bruise by emily harman // ĐŽĐŸĐ»ĐłĐžĐč ŃĐ°Đ·ĐłĐŸĐČĐŸŃ by natalia livitchuk // ryebreadgf // i get so jealous of euthanized dogs by june gehringer // untitled by nguyá» n duy máșĄnh // none of it grace by mike young // donât let them see me like this by jasmine gibson // the book of disquiet by fernando pessoa // eurydice by sarah ruhl // defeated by cesar biojo // ghosting by andrea cohen
How did all this happen? I mean look at us, Sid, sitting here at a dance, drinking punch. Not a scratch on either of us. I mean, what the hell are we doing here? And why... why did I end up back here when all those other fellas didn't?
- I thought that. Every guy back has thought that. But you've just got to pull yourself out of bed in the morning and get on with the day. You do that enough times in a row... you forget some things. For a while, anyway.
danny boy song adapted from an old irish air by fred e. weatherly // easy company soldier by donald malarkey // band of brothers by hbo // untitled by anne magill // babel by ailbhe nĂ ghearbhuigh (gaelic version) // the responsibility of love by unknown // iâll be seeing you by billie holiday // worlds of affirmation by ella wrenwood // all of me by billie holiday // page sixteen of a' choisir-chiuil : the st. columba collection of gaelic songs, arranged for part-singing // as evening falls by anne magill // babel by ailbhe nĂ ghearbhuigh (english version) // fear and loathing in las vegas by hunter s. thompson // excerpts of the sheet music of o! âtis sweet when the moon and i go not forth in pride of might from the irish minstrel: a selection from the vocal melodies of ireland, ancient & modern by robert archibald smith // untitled by neil carroll // a drinking song by w.b. yeats // you donât know what love is by billie holiday // slow show by the national
pigeons by archibald russell watson allan // on earth weâre briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong // band of brothers by hbo // sweet dreams by sonja zorko // three more plays: the silver tassie, purple dust, red roses for me by seĂĄn oâcasey // den by maud madsen // slade house by david mitchell // close distance by arjan van helmond // art & lies: a piece of three voices and a bawd by jeanette winterson // wind from the sea by andrew wyeth // albert camus in a letter to maria casarĂšs // counting the vertebrae by rieweyrs // aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe by benjamin alrie saenz // vapors by meghan howland // still by daughter
For Luztoye Week 2026 Day Four: Post-War (Vaguely)
sometimes i think if you didn't have me, there wouldn't be a single person in the world who really understood you... - ed brubaker, captain america: the winter soldier #11 (2005)
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