Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Band of Brothers Boot Camp

‘It’s very authentic, dripping in sincerity, there’s nothing sensational about it. It had a docu-drama feel to it which people responded to. –Damian Lewis on Band of Brothers

bandofbrothers

We blogged earlier about how a 29-year old British actor Damian Lewis got cast to play all-American WWII hero Dick Winters as well as the deft and the charisma with which Damian Lewis came to immortalize Dick Winters on small screen. However, we still have a black box between the casting and the shoot: How did Damian Lewis TRANSFORM into Dick Winters?

DLDW

Well… Once he gets the part, the two Hollywood giants Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks leave the room and Tony To, the executive producer, asks: “Hey Damian, how’d you like to go to boot camp in March?”

Ha! The boot camp… It is, in fact, what FILLS the black box I’ve been talking about… The Transformation, quoting Damian himself, from “a rice pudding” to a “celery stalk” 🙂

Well… Once he gets the part, the two Hollywood giants Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks leave the room and Tony To, the executive producer, asks:

“Hey Damian, how’d you like to go to boot camp in March?”

Here’s Damian’s short version of Band of Brothers boot camp from an interview with Dish Magazine!

“I looked a little like a rice pudding before,” Lewis says, “and afterwards, like a stick of celery… the love handles went, the flabby arms went.” The actor, who says his knowledge of WWII before BAND OF BROTHERS was “the ten greatest hits,” soon got a taste of what these soldiers went through to prepare for battle. He remembers one day hanging in under the watchful eye of Captain Dale Dye, doing 70 pushups, and then felt his arms go to Jell-O. “I’m watching you, Winters,” Dye bellowed, “You better not give up on me, Winters.” Lewis says it took him as long to get to the requisite 80 pushups as it had taken him to do the first 70. “I felt like I was in ‘Full Metal Jacket,'” he adds ruefully.

And if you are interested, and I know you are, here is the long version of what Damian goes through to transform into Dick Winters: We have a diary kept by Damian himself during the boot camp and later published in Daily Mail in October 2001.

CURRAHEE!

winters11
source: HBO

BOOT CAMP AT LONGMOOR, NEAR PETERSFIELD, HAMPSHIRE, MARCH 23:

DAY 1: ‘You better not give up on me Winters. I’m watching you Winters.’
I’m on my 70th sit-up. I’ve been given a personal trainer to get in shape and for the moment it seems to be working. But I’m on my way to 80 and my stomach has cramped. Captain Dale ‘no namby-pamby actor s**t’ Dye, a Vietnam veteran, is hulked over me and letting me know who’s in charge. It’s the first morning of a ten-day basic training. It’s 6am, we’ve been on a five-mile run and now we’re being watched doing 45 minutes of physical training. All before breakfast. Captain Dye addresses us only by our character names. We’re not allowed to have mobile phones or contemporary literature. We’re in 1942, whether we like it or not. Already he is instilling in us the feeling that we are special, or will be if we make it. This drive for authenticity is exhilarating. All I know is, the deeper I involve my imagination and give him the ‘heart’ he asks for, the more rewarding all this will be. Tom Hanks made it perfectly clear in a trademark tub-thumping speech to us all that we have a social responsibility to document this period of history as accurately as possible. I think he’s right. I’m the lead role in this show, which is going to be seen by millions of people worldwide and has a budget of £86 million. When I’m Damian Lewis, I’m nervous. When I’m Dick Winters, I can do anything. Now that’s drama therapy.

DAY 2: ‘Who’s Winters? Who’s playin’ him? Is he English?’ There are murmurs in the camp – a lot of the guys don’t know who I am yet. Is this where the trouble starts? I brace myself for a bit of Limey bashing, but incredibly, I seem to have the full respect of all the men resent. People are asking for my opinions and calling me ‘Sir’. Suddenly it’s clear I’m in a 24-hours-a-day, ten-day Method rehearsal. I think to myself, ‘If they want Method. I’ll give them Method,’ and start dishing out a lot more orders.

DAY 3: The training regime in the mornings is now established. We run in
formation and sing: ‘Mama, Mama, can’t you see, what the Airborne’s done to me?’ Singing together makes the five miles easier. I feel like I’m in a movie already, not preparing for one. Guard duty tonight. Each man is to patrol the perimeter for one hour, in temperatures below zero. It’s too cold to sleep, but I don’t think sleep is valued particularly highly around here.

source: telegraph.co.uk
source: telegraph.co.uk

DAY 6: Promotion today. I’m now Captain Dick Winters. Injuries have started to happen. David Schwimmer [Herbert Sobel] has twisted his knee performing field manoeuvres and has become ‘officer in charge of cigarettes’. Thankfully, Schwimmer is taking his responsibilities seriously. With no booze for ten days, people are smoking furiously. Neal McDonough [Buck Compton] has cut his lip open with the butt of an M1 rifle and has had stitches without anaesthetic. ‘Well Buck wouldn’t have had anaesthetic, ‘ he chimes, grinning widely.

DAY 7: We have a massive simultaneous attack today on a train. With a six-man training team sniping (with blanks) at our 50-man company. I lead the assault. It’s a total disaster. I’m shot so many times I feel like a sieve. I fail to control the men. I get torn apart by Captain Dye, who tells me I’d better get them in order. I’m so immersed by now, believing that I’m in 1942 and that I’m Dick Winters, that I go and hand out the biggest roasting in military history to my men. And what’s more, I expect to be listened to.

source: denofgeek.com
source: denofgeek.com

DAY 8: We move into our week of jump training today. There’s one major
problem. I’m scared of heights. Thankfully, today is spent jumping off chairs on to mattresses, practicing our falls and rolls.

DAY 9: We visit RAF Brize Norton for a day in jumping school. Today I’m going to jump off a 60ft tower screaming from the top of my lungs ‘One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand. . .’ After this, you’re supposed to open you chute. Looking up, the platform doesn’t seem so high. Looking down, I want to cry. I can’t hold on to anything because I can’t get any grip. My palms are sweating too heavily. A jump trainer edges me out. I look straight ahead at the horizon and leap into the void. I land about five seconds later. I’ve done it. Parachuting becomes addictive. Apparently.

DAY 10: The day of the ‘propblast’, airborne slang for big drink. Boy, do we need alcohol. It’s been ten days of authentic military training and everyone is incredibly proud to have got through it. So we all get drunk and hug each other a lot.”

source: tumblr
source: tumblr

Well-deserved, guys!

Damian Lewis also gets to spend time with real Dick Winters, who basically led his men all the way from the beaches of Normandy to Hitler’s Bavarian headquarters. Damian describes real Winters as “quite a difficult man to get to know, withdrawn, not given to long exuberant anecdotes about the war. A brilliant soldier with an extraordinary gift of leadership, and his men loved him.”

source: People Magazine
source: People Magazine

Damian tells about how he was able to meet and get to know Dick Winters in a preface he wrote in September 2004 for the book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander.

“Dick kept a diary at the war. He wrote letters home. He had several folders of memories. And I had them all for research. But I had never met him. At boot camp I called him for the first time, and through a series of phone calls I set about slowly trying to earn his trust. What emerged as I got to know him was a man not given to late night in bars, reminiscing, not given to romanticizing his past glories. He was a man whose recollections were analytical, pragmatically ordered, not emotional, a man who was much happier answering questions on technical maneuvers or what boot he wore his knife on (the left by the way), than what he felt, as he found himself isolated from his men, staring at a whole company of Germans, on top of that dyke in Holland, for example. “I was always just concentrating on getting the job done, ” would be his typical reply. It dawned on me what a happy coincidence it was that I had felt slightly removed from the “hype” at the beginning of the job, a little detached. For it was precisely his ability to distance himself from any hysteria and to remain calm and lucid in moments of danger that made Dick Winters a natural leader of men. But not only that. Once I had his trust, I found a warmth, a wickedly dry sense of humor and a willingness to listen that is not often found in men of power.”

source: pinterest.com
source: pinterest.com

And, in an interview with The Guardian Damian says he “had exhaustive conversations with the producers about the fact that Richard Winters is still alive… We were adamant that we had to be as true to him as possible, true to the essence of the man.’ But that didn’t mean doing a vocal imitation. ‘He’s Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite… He would sound Canadian to us. He had a very puritanical upbringing, no drinking, no swearing. Incredible moral rectitude and a sense of what’s right and wrong. And, of course, he has a natural economy with words and emotions.”

And this is exactly how Damian Lewis portrays Dick Winters in Band of Brothers. He shares in a 2002 interview with The Guardian that, in bringing Dick Winters to life in Band of Brothers, he goes for Steve McQueen and Gary Cooper, actors who achieved a lot by doing a little: “If you set up an intensity and a stillness to someone you only have to show a flicker of a smile and it will show volumes.” He says it is also about listening and cites his screen hero Robert De Niro: “He’s brilliant at it. It’s his listening which gives him his mercurial quality. It shows a certain humility.” The Guardian rightly points out, the most striking in Damian’s performance as Dick Winters is “how much he managed to put across by doing so very little. What stuck in the memory from Band of Brothers was not sudden moments of great heroism, but Lewis’s immense stillness in the face of the clatter and incident of war.”

Well done, sir!

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Author: Damianista

Academic, Traveler, Blogger, Runner, Theatre Lover, Wine Snob, Part-time New Yorker, and Walking Damian Lewis Encyclopedia :D Procrastinated about a fan's diary on Damian Lewis for a while and the rest is history!

27 thoughts on “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Band of Brothers Boot Camp”

    1. Thank you! I love Damian’s sense of humor and it’s amazing that he kept a diary during the boot camp. It’s precious!

  1. Hi Damianista ! Summer is a busy time, so while I have been reading all your entries, haven’t had much chance to respond till now. In my Fan Story (posted back in April), I mentioned having met Major Winters and this seems a good time to briefly relate that story. The occasion was the opening and dedication of the US Army Heritage & Education Center in Carlisle, PA. That is not far from where Major Winters and his wife lived in Hershey. Part of the event was his presentation of some of his personal papers. I had an internet acquaintance with a very good friend of his who clued me in to this ceremony so my husband and I attended. That acquaintance introduced me to him and I had a few minutes to talk. That brief time was all I had hoped for and remains such a treasured memory. He was friendly and gracious and asked if I wanted a kiss or a photo. I told him both! I got both! His presentation speech was short, but reflected his authoritative and distinguished demeanor. He had every bit the command presence that was evident in the Band of Brothers interviews and which Damian was so successful in portraying. I have the photo but am doubtful that I know how to include it here. When the Major passed several years later, we truly lost one of the great ones. I was able to attend his memorial service a few months after his passing and have also visited his grave. Certainly Damian did him justice in his lead role in BoB and that series will remain one of my all time favorites.

    1. Hi Connie! SO GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU and hope you have had a wonderful summer!

      This is an incredible story. Haha I love it that you both got the kiss and the photo. What a wonderful gentleman! Rest in Peace. We owe so much to that great generation. We just started a Band of Brothers marathon at home and are in awe once again in the courage and sacrifice of those that fought for freedom and peace in the world. And you are right Damian certainly does justice to Major Winters in the lead role and his fantastic portrayal of this brilliant soldier and man contributes enormously to the popularity of the series. Band of Brothers never gets old. It is timeless.

      Please do send me your picture with the Major if you can. Maybe attached to an email. We can also add it to your fan story, I know we will publish it again. All fan stories we have received/published are so special that they all deserve at least one more publication in the months/years to come.

          1. Great job with this. A BoB marathon?! What a great idea!
            Tell us more. I’m sure people the world over would love to be involved.

          2. Hi Nik, thank you!

            Band of Brothers fan do BoB marathons annually, often on Memorial Day, Remembrance Day or Veterans Day. We are just doing it around its debut time on HBO.
            We started our marathon two nights ago, but we are not watching, say, 6 episodes a night, because we want to pay utmost attention to the show. So it’s 2 episodes a night for us 🙂

    2. Nice to hear from you, Connie. I love your Major Winters story. The subtlety of Damian’s portrayal moves BoB up to my No.3 favorite role. The scene in the Last Patrol in which Mjr. Winters informs his men of both their assignment AND to get a good nights sleep actually confused me for a second!

    1. Oh yeah, a watching marathon, it is a tradition for Band of Brothers fans. I really didn’t think my words would imply a running marathon, sorry about that.
      Are you a runner by the way? I am, but run half-marathons, not full.

  2. I started watching BoB shortly after I read this post. I’d seen it when first broadcast but that was a long time ago. My screen is much bigger, it’s steaming and I had my devices nearby when I forgot a name! On my first viewing I had trouble following the battles and all young white men in helmets look the same 😉 What a magnificent tribute!
    I was born in ’51 so these events had much more immediacy to my childhood. The horrors of war aren’t to me a reason not to fight but rather a reason to win, for I don’t believe there’ll be a world without war. Undeclared wars conducted by and ultimately surrendered by politicians truly are a waste.
    All that is to say BoB is about heroism to me; the sacrifice of young men for a grateful country. It seems sometimes that we Americans have come to prefer our warriors wounded but most survive and recover. No one gets out of this life unscarred. I honor their wounds and the sacrifices so movingly portrayed in this series for all of our military.
    This may explain why my view of Brody is often at odds.

  3. Ha! I really have to see Band of Brothers. I will come up to date with Billions ( have 1 more from season 3 and ep 1 from 4) and after that Bob, here I come. So excited!

      1. Quite new. I discovered him 1 month ago, and my world was turned upside down :-))))) (ok, I do admit.. I became a little bit obsessed with him, never happened to me with any other actor). But no, Billions is not my first experience, Homeland is! And Brody is and will remain the one and only..But now, I am discovering his other work and I realize he is a very complex actor, so versatile and so involved in all the characters he is playing. Is quite amazing. Continued with Billions and after that, I plan Band of Brothers.

        1. I hear you, sister! Even though I was a huge fan of Kevin Costner for 20 years (I have always been monogamous in my actor crushes) it was nothing like the feelings I have had for Damian, to be honest, more about Brody than Damian himself. I know that I will never love any other character like I have loved Brody. He brings a completely different character to life in Billions, and I love him as Bobby Axelrod but yeah if I need to chose one, it is Brody all the way! 🙂 And yes his versatility is mind-blowing. I mean, I was so overwhelmed by his acting that I felt like I had to launch a blog to share the love I have for his brilliant career with others that have similar feelings. And here we are! I am so glad we’ve met Oana. Please keep your feedback coming. Sending lots of love!

          1. Phew, than I do not need a shrink, it is just Damian effect, not me having a problem :-)))
            Good thing you did the blog, thus all of us, the ones touched deeply by Damian’s brilliance have a place where to express our feelings. Thank you for this. Pls never stop it.

          2. No, you don’t need a shrink! 😀

            It is all about having a wonderful community sharing the love, admiration and respect we have for Damian. Well, the man himself has said “keep doing it” and his words and especially the constant love and support we have received from lovely fans like you keep us going and going. We hope to be around as long as Damian is. Cheers!

        2. Yes,ladies, we are singing from the same songbook. I was so stunned by my reaction to Nicholas Brody that I called my sister to “confess”. “She said “Enjoy it.” As Dana Brody would say, “So far, so good.” 🙂

          1. Haha yes I confessed too, and not to my sister (I don’t have siblings!) but to my husband. He said “Enjoy it!” too. But he couldn’t believe i was breaking up with Kevin so it was sort of a shock for him. He’s the best!

    1. Yes you should! It is one of the best, if not the best, series made about WWII. Almost a docu-drama. Damian shines as Major Dick Winters.

  4. Started BoB and this man keeps astonishing me. I will again make a marathon also with this series . He is so young there but he plays fantastic.

    1. Yes, barely a 30 year old actor pulling THAT off is mind-blowing. Band of Brothers is a true masterpiece. So glad you like it.

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