Tom Hanks has taken “full responsibility” for the brutal way in which he allegedly fired Conor Ratliff from Band of Brothers.
On Thursday, the Search Party actor spoke to the 65-year-old Academy Award winner about the incident on his Dead Eyes podcast and recounted the story of how he was cast in an HBO miniseries and subsequently fired for “dead eyes.”
Hanks admitted that “not one moment of this rings a bell”, but admitted.
“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 it to go.”
“In the holy of holies, whatever this Band of Brothers casting was… I’m pretty 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 some of that and it would be true and it would be an opinion,” he added.
Ratliff appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk about Hanks on his podcast. NBC
In 2000, Radcliffe, then 24 years old, auditioned for a small role in the film Band of Brothers, created by Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Before filming began, he was fired because the “Sully” actor allegedly said he thought Radcliffe had “dead eyes”.
Two decades later, Radcliffe launched a podcast about auditions and rejections in the entertainment industry.
Hanks called the story “just chilling” and took “full responsibility” for his actions.
Ratliff missed out on Band of Brothers role. Getty Images
He also admitted to being “stunned” to learn of the podcast’s origins from his son Colin and daughter Elizabeth.
“I really got cold. My heart rate sped up and I said, “I did… I did what? What did I do?” he said.