Tom Hanks Apologizes to Connor Ratliff Over His Firing From 'Band of Brothers' For Him Having 'Dead Eyes'

justjared.com:

Connor Ratliff has received an apology from Tom Hanks. According to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star, he was fired from the 2001 miniseries, Band of Brothers, over having “dead eyes”. Click inside to read more… Tom was actually a guest on Connor‘s podcast, which is appropriately named Dead Eyes, about the incident which stuck with him for all these years.

While Tom admitted that none of his story rang a bell with him, he did say that it was a “bone-chilling story, just bone-chilling,” and went on to take “full responsibility” for his actions. “This was without a doubt the act of the director, and that was me,” Tom shared. “There was something in stuck in a craw or one of those very, very subtle sort of decisions that aims the story in the direction you want it to go.” He added, “In the inner sanctum of whatever this casting session was on Band of Brothers … I’m sure I said, ‘I don’t know man, that guy’s got dead eyes.’ I could’ve said, ‘He’s got too blond of hair; he’s too tall and I can’t have the aide be taller than Captain Winters.’ I could’ve said, ‘He’s too short and slight … I could’ve said any of these things, and they would have been true and they would’ve been the opinion.’ ” Connor had told Tom that he “built this thing up so big and then it was just gone.” He also spoke about it during an appearance on the Late Show with Seth Meyers just the week before.