5 Things You Didn’t Know About The Band Of Brothers

1. The cast went to an intensive 10-day boot camp before shooting

They trained 18 hours a day under the watchful eye of Captain Dale Dye, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran who came to Hollywood after the military to become a technical adviser and eventually portrayed Colonel Robert Sink in the series.

2. They toned down the real stories in fear of the audiences not believing it

Some stories were minimized because their life stories seem too incredible to be true. The interaction between Donald Malarkey and the German POW (who turned out to be an American) in Episode 2 of the series was actually even more astounding in real life.

The two of them actually worked across the street from one another for years before WW2 broke out.

3. The real story of Captain Herbert Sobel

The real Sobel not only fought in WW2, but also continued serving in the Korean War and even received a Bronze Star.

In 1970, Sobel survived a suicide attempt that left him permanently blind in both eyes. He spent the last 17 years of his life in a Veteran Affairs retirement home before dying in 1987 of neglect and malnutrition.

4. It was a HUGE undertaking at the time

According to the documentary “Making of Band Of Brothers”, the production required 2,000 American and German military uniforms, 1,200 vintage costumes, more than 10,000 extras, more than 14,000 rounds of ammunition A DAY, and 500 speaking roles.

5. It was a star-filled show

Because the series includes hundreds of speaking roles, they had to recruit an army of young actors – many of whom were relatively unknown at the time. You’ve probably seen several young faces that are now recognizable as major movie stars.

Among them were James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Simon Pegg, Michael Fassbender, Collin Hanks, and Andrew Scott.