Chapter 144: Oscar Winner

Three old tanks were soon shipped to Ireland, where professionals modified them according to Duke's requirements. At the same time, a large amount of WWII-era American military equipment also arrived at the set. Sherman tanks, old military jeeps, and green military tents, along with other military installations, turned the "Saving Private Ryan" set into a completely realistic battlefield.

"I've got some unfortunate news for you."

Sophia Coppola, dressed in a wool coat and dark jeans, walked into the tent Duke was using as an office. "The Irish military has sent 800 soldiers to assist with filming?"

"Why are they here so early?"

Putting down his pen, Duke stood up from behind his makeshift desk and poured Sophia a cup of hot coffee. The temperature in Ireland wasn't very high in late October. "According to the original plan, they weren't supposed to arrive until ten days before shooting began, right?"

These soldiers were to play the roles of background extras, merely demonstrating their military skills. Ten days would be more than enough for some basic rehearsal.

"That's the bad news," Sophia said as she took the coffee cup and pulled up a chair. "They're going to our neighbors first."

"'Braveheart'?" Duke immediately understood.

Sophia shrugged and sipped her coffee. "I spoke with the commanding officer. 'Braveheart' supposedly has many large-scale battle scenes, and since it's set in the medieval period, they'll need a lot of time to rehearse."

"Will it affect us?"

That was Duke's main concern. "I don't want to find out during filming that we're short on people."

"The Irish authorities have said…"

Sophia refilled her coffee. "They've already provided us with personnel. It's up to us and the 'Braveheart' crew to communicate and coordinate our shooting schedules."

Duke sighed. The "Braveheart" crew was not only working on the neighboring set but also staying in a hotel adjacent to theirs in Dublin. It was impossible not to cross paths, but Duke hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"Who's the producer for 'Braveheart'?" Duke asked.

"The lead producer is Mel Gibson. He's not the easiest person to deal with. If I'm not mistaken, you've had some issues with him in the past?"

"In that case…"

Duke thought for a moment. "Have Robin or Charles handle the negotiations. If I get involved, things will only get worse."

Finding a large number of extras with military training was not easy, which is why Duke had brought the crew to Ireland in the first place. The Irish authorities had been straightforward: after hiring a lot of locals to work on the crew, they directly sent an entire military unit to assist. Any potential conflicts between the two film crews due to scheduling would be their own problem.

Leaving the coordination to the two production managers, Duke continued to focus on the pre-production work.

The costume department had hired a specialist designer to create 3,000 authentic-looking military uniforms. They also contacted the company that had manufactured boots for the American military during WWII and had them reproduce 2,000 pairs of boots in the same style. All the uniforms and boots were then specially treated to look as though they had been through countless battles.

Meanwhile, the props department, in addition to modifying tanks, collected and commissioned the production of 2,000 prop weapons. Each firearm was inspected and maintained daily by a designated staff member to ensure nothing went wrong.

The biggest challenge for the props team, however, was finding enough landing craft used by Allied forces during WWII. After searching throughout England and Scotland, they found only a few. Eventually, they resorted to placing ads in both the UK and the US, finally locating a large number of landing craft in Palm Beach, California. These boats were then shipped to Ireland, repainted, and readied for the landing scenes.

Safety was one of Duke's top concerns. Along with the safety director, Cole, the head of the pyrotechnics team, Josh Williams, and cinematographer John Schwartzman, Duke conducted on-site inspections of several shooting locations. They marked out the positions for explosions and established camera angles based on these spots. They also determined the actors' movement routes and repeatedly stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of the explosives.

Filming scenes involving explosions would inevitably result in minor injuries, but if there was a major safety incident, it would cause serious problems. It wouldn't just affect the crew's filming schedule; even their neighbors next door wouldn't sit idly by.

Duke never underestimated the power of CAA or the methods born out of fierce competition.

As the calendar turned to November, the crew welcomed its most important auditioning actor: Academy Award winner Tom Hanks.

Hanks's audition only took place once. When he appeared in military uniform in the audition room, Duke and the others immediately knew that Hanks' appearance and acting would not be obstacles for him playing Captain Miller.

With his curly hair, wide forehead, and full cheeks, Hanks had an inherent innocence about him. His rounded nose, almost like an upside-down exclamation mark, made him the perfect embodiment of the word "good."

Seen through the camera, his performance was understated. He wasn't aggressive or overly dramatic, knowing exactly how to blend into the environment and effortlessly become one of the ordinary men.

Within just a few minutes, Hanks won the approval of Duke and the others.

As one of the two most iconic actors of the 1990s in Hollywood, if the other Tom's acting was worth a passing grade, then this Tom could easily score a ninety.

After Hanks left, the audition room fell into a brief silence.

"Robin, Charles…"

Duke lifted his head from behind the camera and looked at the two production managers. "What do you think?"

"Captain Miller is an ordinary officer, just another regular soldier in the Allied forces," Charles Roven, one of the managers, said. "Duke, based on your character design, he's a typical civilian hero. I think Hanks fits the role perfectly, both in temperament and appearance."

Charles's opinion clearly resonated with the others, who nodded in agreement.

"Get in touch with Hanks's agent," Duke said after a moment of thought. "Robin, Charles, try to negotiate his fee down. I can't accept a base salary of $20 million!"

With his position made clear, the rest would be handled by the production team. Duke instructed Ben Watts, who was operating the camera, to store away the audition footage before he left the room.

What Duke didn't expect was that Tom Hanks and his agent hadn't left yet. They were waiting for him in a nearby tent, set up as a lounge.

"Hey, Duke, I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."

As soon as Duke entered the lounge, Hanks's agent, Eno Martin, came over. Duke shook his hand lightly. "I've been wanting to meet you as well, Eno."

This wasn't just small talk. Duke had once read up on CAA, and this Italian-Jewish agent in front of him was the future head of the agency. After Michael Ovitz was ousted from Walt Disney, he returned to the entertainment industry and founded his own agency, poaching talents like Martin Scorsese. It was Eno Martin who led CAA in defeating Michael Ovitz, forcing him into retirement.

After 2000, Martin Scorsese repeatedly failed to win the Academy Award for Best Director. Besides the obvious intent to chase awards, his failure to do so was partly attributed to his departure from CAA.

"Hey, Duke."

"Hey, Tom."

When Duke shook Tom Hanks's hand, he added a timely compliment. "Your portrayal of Forrest Gump is one of my favorite film characters."

"The honor is mine," Tom Hanks said modestly.

It was their first formal meeting, and there was no opportunity for deeper interaction. They simply discussed a few details about "Saving Private Ryan" and Captain John Miller's character.

To Duke's surprise, Eno Martin wasn't like other CAA agents such as Marty Bob, who greeted him with false smiles. Instead, he seemed more like Tom Cruise's agent, Pat Kingsley, and appeared to want to befriend him.

After a brief reflection, Duke figured it out. Just like the internal competition within Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, CAA's leadership likely had its own power struggles. Eno Martin was probably on the opposing side of Marty Bob and his allies.

"Missing out on you as a director…"

As they said goodbye, Eno Martin smiled regretfully. "It's one of the biggest mistakes CAA has ever made. I hope it won't affect our future cooperation."

Since Martin had extended goodwill, Duke wasn't about to reject it. "I don't think CAA will be a barrier between us."

Shaking hands once more, Duke bid farewell to Eno Martin. Tom Hanks then approached him. "I really like the character of Miller. I hope we have the chance to work together."

"I'd love to work with an Oscar winner," Duke replied politely.

Both men understood that whether they could work together or not didn't just depend on their personal intentions. There were too many other factors to consider.

The day after Hanks left, the candidates auditioning for the role of James Ryan arrived at the set. Though these young actors weren't exceptionally talented, none of them were poor choices. However, after considering all factors, the crew ultimately chose Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Ryan, following Duke's recommendation.

In the following days, the auditions for the other main roles were completed. Like DiCaprio, most of the selected actors had solid acting foundations but were relatively affordable.

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