Tom Hanks has apologized to actor Connor Ratliff more than two decades after he allegedly fired him from Band of Brothers for a “dead look”.
Ratliff, who currently stars in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, claims he was fired from a small role in the 2001 HBO miniseries shortly before filming began and was replaced at the last minute.
Since then, he’s been trying to get to the bottom of Hanks’ reasoning, and the story even inspired the title of his Dead Eyes podcast, which features guests such as Seth Rogen, Jon Hamm, and Hanks’ own son, Colin Hanks.
In a surprise move, Ratliff managed to get the man as a guest in the season 3 finale.
During the episode of his podcast on Thursday (March 10), Ratliff told the story of auditioning for a military drama at the age of 24. However, Hanks initially said that “not one moment of this rings a bell”.
Hanks added, “It’s a chilling story, just chilling.” He said he took “full responsibility” for his actions.
“No doubt it was the director’s act, and it was me,” Hanks told Ratliff. “Something stuck in the goiter or one of those very, very subtle decisions that steer the story in the direction you want.”
Damian Lewis in the movie Band of Brothers
(HBO)
He added: “In the holy of holies of any Band of Brothers casting… I’m sure I said, ‘I don’t know, man, this guy has dead eyes.’ I could say, “He has too blonde hair; he’s too tall, and I can’t bear the mate to be taller than Captain Winters.
“I could say, ‘He’s too short and thin… I could say one of those things and it would be the truth and that would be an opinion.’
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Ratliff said he understood how difficult it might be for Hanks to remember the remark, but said that it was “very important” to him at the time.
He said, “I built this thing so big, and then it just disappeared.”
Hanks said he was “stunned” to hear about the podcast’s title from his son Colin and daughter Elizabeth.
He said, “I am really cold. My heart rate sped up and I said, “I did… I did what? What I’ve done?”