Band of Brothers Actor on Role that Changed his Life | Easy Company's Joseph Liebgott by Ross McCall

man it's been a long War it's been a tough War we fought bravely proudly for your country everybody knew what we were there to do we knew that this was going to be um an incredible piece of Cinema as well and an important piece of Cinema mus [Music] musicians farmers uals with normal people J Juden Juden juice the men would look at me like I was Joe they would talk to me like I was their friend you know because I was now that representation for them and so that's why I knew beforehand but that was really starting to solidify the importance of what this meant playing these men Jo yeah drop your ammo what drop your ammo you kidding me what are you doing give me your weapon yeah you have one round I wanted to do him Justice I wanted to hold his legacy High uh and uh yeah it was in complete and utter honor of my life to be able to step into his Corr and do what we did you are about to Embark upon the great crusade to meet this mounting aggression and make no mistake about it good will prevail born in a little place called Green just outside Glasgow in Scotland so I'm a I'm a Scotsman who sounds like a Londoner who came to America 20 years ago who plays you know American uh American folks and in this show in particular an American Jew who spoke German so I had like you know how to work out all sorts of different accents now Americans like to try out a English or British accent I don't know if we're any good at it but uh how do you make it give a convincing American accent you know it's um it's funny that you say that I think I think for whatever reason American women do Great British accents and the American guys it's it's a little tougher but I think the reason being is I was raised on American Film you know I would go to the movie theater every weekend I would go and sneak into my my local Cinema to watch you know whatever big Blockbuster was coming out and then I started getting a little more Arty with it and I started watching more and more New York driven film um and so I honestly think that a lot of my accent work came from just study so I don't think many of the American guys are actually watching a ton of British films I mean they probably are but there's more American movies and the raw British films so it's sort of easier for me to slip into it I don't know can you turn it on and off like a switch like that that's awesome you have to pay me now off if you want it kidding uh how'd you get started in acting started when I was a kid I was uh I was one of these uh you know I think I've done all right cuz you know I don't have any drug problems or you know I'm still in it um so uh yeah started off as a kid uh in London uh 11 years old was when I started I made my first movie I think when I was 13 um and once I did my first film once I got in front of cameras I sort of realized that's that's where my my path was taking me um so I did my first movie around 13 um worked you know steadily and a lot in the UK for many years and then Mr Spielberg Mr Hanks came knocking when I was 24 I was one of the youngest on the show anything that stands out immediately in your mind about the audition so many things uh I was very lucky there was a lot of guys that had audition you know seven eight nine times for this and didn't get it you know but band was every actor of my generation knew about it you know everyone in the US everyone in the UK everyone in Australia everybody knew about it all the english- speaking you know big countries were very aware that this uh this show was coming to town so everybody was on the phone to their agent straight off you know get me in get me in and all our buddies of the same age everyone was talking about it so we all knew it was happening uh and uh and I was very lucky I only auditioned three times you know and like I said many people did many more than uh my first one it was at the Royal anthon Hotel in London I had to go in and meet our casting director a very well-known lady called Meg Le who I often say this I think the success of banner Brothers goes down Tom Hanks Steven Spielberg Tony toe was our you know uh boots on the ground producer um who oversaw everything for Tom and Steven and then uh me leberman our casting director and Captain D those were the folks that really put their show together so I knew I had to meet Meg and when you uh first go to meet someone of Meg stature you are kind of told under no certain terms you know she's all business you know there's no messing around there's no there's no cute little flirting there's no charm that's going into this meeting with with Meg uh and so uh I had to go and meet her associate first the same day and as I walked in sometimes when you have auditions they have readers opposite you they have actors great actors that will come in and read opposite and the guy who was reading opposite I knew him I did a show with him about 8 years previous so he knew I was not American but I went in telling everybody I was American and telling everyone I was from Connecticut and that was my whole thing and so I was like I hope this guy doesn't blow my cover I hope he's not like Ross you know uh and God bless him he stuck with it he knew what I was doing and we allowed it to happen after that first initial read uh Angela Terry uh she said where you from and I said you know I jokingly said Connecticut and then I dropped it after that I was youngers from then on but um I uh she said can you stick around you got to go meet Meg sure so I stuck around and a lot of guys were coming and going and I was like it seem to be one of the very few that's sticking around went in to meet Meg she was at the other side of the room very distant um and I remember seeing a little board and on this board was 10 faces and now I know it was the 10 guys that we were going to really be following in the show um and I remember just looking at these men and just you know seeing a lot in in in their faces in their eyes um and I was like ah she's trying to match us up she's trying to see who's kind of look similar to somebody so I'm sort of quickly trying to scan this to see who I look like you know uh and I did my read and she stopped me at the end end and she stood up she took her chair and she came she sat right in front of me it's far from my face and she said do that again and at that point I was like I could be on it something here so I did it again she then said to me uh she goes great listen I'd like you to come back next week and meet Tom Hanks are you available and I said you I should check my schedule but I think I think I might be think I might be available um so I left on Cloud9 feeling very good about myself and I stuck with my American accent for the rest of the week drove my family nuts my friends all thought I was you know I was not mentally all there cuz I was walking around with this American accent for the next week uh and I went to meet Tom American Veterans Center is proud to announce that this video is sponsored by 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so you can connect with a therapist and see if it helps you and so I had a great time with him he made me very comfortable uh that was in his uh Castaway day so he had the the big beard and the bandana and you know looked all all kinds of different from the Tom Hanks that I knew uh but he couldn't have been Kinder uh very generous we acted opposite each other so I got to act with Tom Hanks and so I'm a winner already you know I'm leaving gone however it goes It goes and then I got my final call to go and meet Tony toe who was our boots on the ground he was Steven and Tom's eyes every day and I went and met him same thing um did my audition for him and as I was leaving he said Ross I said yeah said where you from and that's where I went yonas I walked out the door and that was it then I go to job you mentioned Captain D was one of the people that that really helped to make this a big success and of course there's this boot camp that lasted uh what about close to two weeks that you guys were part of what was the first moment because I know that one of the things that brought you guys together was your initial dislike of of what you were going through there so I think they call it trauma bunding yeah so was there an initial moment where you're like what did I get myself into here not really not for me um and I don't want to speak for the other guys but I'm I'm pretty sure most of us you know a good 90% of the guys that went to boot camp cuz I mean there was like you know arguably the the 10 main guys and then there were you know maybe 20 other guys that were you know good supporting roles in the show and then we had they called them back then special ability extras which is just a different term now you know but these were all ex-military guys that were going to be you know the shoulder next to you or or or the guy just walking past who looked like he knew what he was doing so they wanted everybody to be trained in a specific way and I'm I'm pretty sure like 90% of us were all like let's do this you know I think there was there was a few that are like can I call my agent you know um but that was drilled out of was straight away I mean I think as actors in my industry you know we're very fortunate in many ways and uh I'm very aware of that you know I can be on set and somebody will offer bring you a cup of tea you know how nice is that I mean it's a lovely you have a trailer you know um you also have to study and you also have to get your brain I mean you know it's not easy work but they do make it comfortable for you and I remember with band I got I got a letter we all did a typed letter dated in the' 40s from Captain D um basically welcoming Us in his way in his salty old way um but he said you know from day one of this boot camp you're now going to be in the military you're now a soldier um and so I remember the town car coming to pick me up for my home and I remember getting in the town car and Allan my driver for the next year who was just became a great soulmate of mine um he's you ready for this I I said yeah yeah I think I am and I showed up at Hatfield which was the studio it was an old Air Base that had turned into production house in studio where we shot the show um and I remember pulling up there and there were a few other cars pulling up and all the actors again were all you know trying to sus each other out and who's who and um literally within five minutes we got into our uniforms and everything changed just respect from the GetGo um eagerness willingness we all hit walls we all hit barriers it was a tough time I it's funny you say two weeks I mean people sometimes say oh it was a 5-day boot camp and others are like it was a four month boot camp it was two weeks you know and it was a a two weeks and I wouldn't dare ever say this to any of my military friends you know it's not the boot camp that they're going through it's not their basic but it's a really really close representation because they wanted to cram everything in and so they beat the son out of us you know for two weeks but boy did they make us look sharp they wanted us to be able to you know not get an M1 thumb when we're reloading you know um they didn't want us to cool cut if something if you ran out of ammo you knew how to get out of a jam you knew how to um you know if you dropped equipment on a on a bluff you knew how to go get it it was just that was the reason for boot camp was to make us look and feel like these men or as close as we possibly could um and so the show would not have been the show without Captain D and his Cadre screaming abuse at us and chewing us out every single day um Captain became a wonderful friend of mine you know and still very very close to him you know um and I got away with murder with Captain I used to just you know I would just be cheeky and smart mouth in the right way but he sort of allowed that with me for whatever reason um but yeah boot camp was the was the reason the show looks and the reason the men bonded now one of the other things you need to do is is bond with your character and unlike some of the other veterans Mr leot had passed away by then but from what I understand you actually found more material uh talking with people who knew him and other things that had been written than some of the people got from the living veterans themselves so well the worst you know the the thing that you always realize is um the thing with these gentleman was they would never or rarely talk about themselves which is just outstanding in a way you know it just tells you so much about them they wouldn't discuss themselves or their own heroics but they would absolutely tell you what their bu did so yeah I uh I was I I was slightly envious at one point cuz everyone was getting binders full of information of letters and you know detailed descriptions of of their man and I got uh manila envelope with one blown up picture which is the same picture in the book and I was like you've just wasted you know you didn't have to print that out I've seen this picture um and I remember being you know a little oh wow dismayed what am I going to do and I just yeah I started leaning on the guys I started leaning on Bill garer started leaning on babe um and uh you know Mr Compton Mr Malarkey all the stories they're willing to tell about Joseph we God are getting passed on to you straight away and what was fascinating too which is uh something you know that took a second for us and it's taken us years to sort of be okay wearing this clothing was the men would look at me like I was Joe they would talk to me like I was their friend you know because I was now that Representative makes me want to cry I was now that representation for them um and so that's why I knew beforehand but that was really starting to solidify the importance of what this meant playing these men and the legacy of easy company and it's something I and the men still do to this day I mean we're very very protective of that um because we know that you know God bless them they've all passed on now and and the audiences that we managed to reach through Banner brothers and these new generations that are coming forward now you know the kids are coming to us now um they see us as them now we know the difference we know we're not but we also know that there is a a a representation of them that we have to be loyal to um and I knew that really early on by the way the uh The Gents were talking to me like I was their friend Joe ligat which you know I I knew at that point okay I've I got to carry this in a way and I have to I now have to want to this as best I can one of the things people might be wondering is in some of the battle scenes when they see explosions are those real explosions I mean uh I I've heard interviews where they would give you like a a line of tape to follow and then pull the tape oh yeah so tell tell me how that works so uh so again this is you know this where boot camp came in you know Captain would be able to go leave gu got it sure uh you know go here you do bull perco you know they tell us where we needed to go so they'd figured that out and then you would have our effects team and they'd come over and go all right so uh you know this is going to go this is going to go this is going to blow this is going to go this is going to go this here's and you'd Mark the tapes out uhuh uhuh uhuh quick rehearsal finish it and then you good they take the tape away and you're like I don't know if I'm good am I good let's uh let's see where this is going to go and uh and of course you would figure it out and nobody lost a you know a limb so thankfully and also you're also dealing with Hollywood explosions so they look immense and incredible um they're pretty safe you know even if you were to be on top of something that perhaps went up I mean you might get kicked up in the air for a second but I think you'll be all right they had the best of the best in of best right yeah same people that had worked on Private Ryan yeah a lot of the same crew and you know uh but also just just production levels like the designers on this thing were I mean you the the Wardrobe the Customs I mean that just everything was just the best of the best you you know you've got Mr Spielberg and Mr Hanks knocking on a door going we're doing this show you in and everybody drops tools I'm in what do you need how much did you see them Mr Spielberg and Mr HS uh it was Tom's baby I've always said that you know um Steven was there um a lot yeah he would show up on set and it was always very exciting days when when Steven was on set and you know he always loved to come in and he would always steal my M1 and like you know hey Lee can I just yeah sure I was playing I'm keeping my eye on him cuz I got Captain die watching me you were never allowed to give your weapon to anybody you know mean so I'm like okay then I give the boss um but Tom was there a lot and Tom directed episode five um but he was he was yeah very instrumental so Tom was there a lot I saw him all the time yeah perhaps the most famous U episode is when you're at the concentration camp and obviously it's going to have an impact on believe God as a Jewish man sure um more than anyone else so since you're not how do you try to get yourself into what he was thinking at that time yeah um well I mean you know again we're all very aware uh with our education of what was going on in the in the camps at that time um the producers and I had a long conversation about whether or not I should go visit one of the the camps which I I hadn't been to one of the memorial sites um at that point in my life I've since I mean I I go three times a year almost now you know to to go and see the memorial sites and pay my respects and you know um but I was aware obviously of what had gone on but I dug deeper um I actually funny enough during boot camp and it feels like a name drop but it's not um but David schwimer who played soble um obviously I I knew he was I knew his faith and um he knew I was playing Le got and we ended up ping up a little bit and he said anything you need to know about the faith ask me so it was great for me um I I would lean into him a little bit um and ask him a lot of questions and I said to him please you know ignore my ignorance if there's anything here and he was like he was he was wonderful he was an open book he said ask me anything so I would ask everything and anything that I had uh in my head at that point and he was very open and honest um and that allowed me to really dig deeper into the faith and find out what that would be to a man uh who was going to witness such a thing um I decided not to go to the memorial before the show because easy coming this was the first time anyone had come across this nobody knew what they were you know which is how the the show handles it in such a beautiful way I believe you know John oloff who wrote it it's just such a wonderful way of of of showing the world what it would mean seeing something like this for the first time and so I wanted that to come across on camera and I think I think a lot of the guys did that's not just me I mean you know I was adamant I didn't want to see the the set you know the were like you want to come up and see this nope I want to see it first time on camera I want to be there and have that shock so already you you have the the horrific sight that you're seeing okay and and the set design and everything on the show was the top of the range is you can't ask for more and so they just created everything so realistically that there was no way that you weren't going to feel that um so you're feeling that and on top of it with all the knowledge that you now have about you know looking into the faith of of uh of leapard and and and how that would affect somebody um was hugely important to me to come across um and to get that notion across so yeah yeah it was tough tough episode to shoot this is obviously a very intense drama all the way through we talked about how um going to the Concentration Camp was uh dramatic in a different way there had to be moments whether it's a flub line or something else that happened during a take that just got you all laughing so is there is there any particular moment that uh just comes to your mind about uh just just cracks you up still there were so many so many times we had a joy on this show it was probably more joyful than SBA because we knew what we were doing and so when the cameras were rolling we knew where we were at we knew the mindset we needed to be in but we were there with our brothers so you put a bunch of guys together who are all very close there's a lot of laughs I will not tell you most of those stories you know it was a great time B was a great time I mean we took it very seriously and in those moments it's there but it was also you know one of our greatest experiences it was terribly sad when it ended it was a we all all of us felt a real you know morning for it it was a really tough time when when the show ended um because we had just created This brilliant friendship Brotherhood um but also on the back of that we knew the story that we were telling and how important it was and and you know we knew we were in the right hands and we knew we weren't going to screw it up what do you want people to know specifically about Joseph ligot and what do you want them to know about The Band of Brothers uh I think I think the thing that I'm most proud of is through through this medium of entertainment we have opened the doors to and I said before you know new generations um and I guess if you're asking me what I would like people to come away from that with is the knowledge that The Bravery of these men saved us saved us um to go into the unknown and especially in a time where it really was the unknown and to throw yourself out of a airplane with a parachute to go on a on a on a boat onto a beach to be you know just me unimaginable Warfare um thank God for them you know I will always be in their debt for that so it's not even about taking away you know what you think of Joe Joe was leot was one of the men and easy were just a company of men with other companies so this whole uh collaboration of bravery there's a reason they're called the greatest Generation you know that is something that we shouldn't forget and I think that's what's great about the show is I I get kids now coming over going you know yeah I didn't know and I'm amazed and I'm and I'm like good good I'm glad you're amazed and you know stick with that and when I've had previously other family members come up and go you know my grandpa never talked about it and the show allowed him to talk about it and so I hear that and I go my goodness people get what do I want people to get from the show is that it's just the fact of this is something we should all be aware of we should all honor and we should all be truly truly grateful for

Channel: American Veterans Center

Views: 655,941

Keywords: AVC, American Veterans Center, veteran, veterans, history, army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard, military, navy seal

Id: GtbWUGeQR9o

Length: 27min 8sec (1628 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 05 2023