5. You've appeared in many films. How did you first get started in
this industry?
Part of the answer to this question is referred to in your second
question. When I retired from active service, I had virtually no civilian
skills, so I looked around for something to do that would combine both my
interest and my passion. War movies seemed to fit the bill, so I headed for
Hollywood with a half-baked idea in mind that I knew how to make better war
films. The major studios were - naturally - not very interested in hearing
my pitch since they'd been making successful war films for many years
without my methods. When I managed to meet Oliver, he understood what I
wanted to do and gave me a chance. I believe good acting is about telling
the truth... or at least convincing an audience that you're telling the
truth.
To do that - in my opinion - an actor needs to have some nodding
acquaintance with what the truth is. So, I strip them of their Show
Business personalities and introduce them via full-immersion to the life of
a combat infantryman. This involves totally isolating them, reducing them
to a lowest common denominator and forcing them to live life in the
rough... with all that entails. It's much the same as a young recruit from
the UK or US gets when he joins the Marines or some other elite
regiment.
6. Which has been your favourite film-making experience and why?
I have two particular favorites among the 40 or so films I've done -
other than Platoon. The first is
Saving Private Ryan (right),
because I think in
that project we raised the standard of pictorially representing what combat
is like in a full-blown amphibious assault. It required me to sort of play
General Eisenhower, running upwards of 1,000 men on the beach, 7 ships at
sea, 6 armored vehicles and a whole company of German defenders. I made all
that work using five radios from the high ground behind the beach. It was a
significant command and control challenge... but we did it.
Secondly, I'm very proud of the new TV series Band of Brothers which is on HBO in the
States and will be on BBC2 here in UK. This series - which took us a year
to make - provides a full 10 hours of TV time to tell the story of one
American airborne infantry unit and their part in WW II from D-Day to VE
Day. It's rare when you get an opportunity to stay with a story and a cast
of characters that long. It's also satisfying that my training of the
actors was sufficient to keep them in their roles and soldiering (not
acting) for an entire year.
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Captain Dale Dye played Company Commander
Captain Harris in the classic Oliver Stone Vietnam war film
