Chapter 143: Choice

Three vintage tanks were soon shipped to Ireland, where professionals modified them to Duke's exact specifications. Meanwhile, a massive shipment of WWII US Military equipment arrived on set. Complete with Sherman tanks, vintage off-road jeeps, newly erected olive-green tents, and other military installations, the Saving Private Ryan set had completely transformed into an authentic battlefield.

"I have some bad news."

Wearing a woolen coat and dark jeans, Sofia Coppola walked into the tent Duke was using as an office. "The Irish Military sent 800 soldiers to help us film."

"Why are they here so early?"

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

These soldiers would all be playing military extras, basically serving as background scenery. As long as they displayed good military discipline, that was enough. Ten days was plenty of time for some basic rehearsals.

"That's the bad news."

Taking the coffee cup, Sofia pulled out a chair and sat down. "They're going to our neighbors first."

"Braveheart?" Duke instantly understood.

Sofia shrugged and took a few sips of her hot coffee. "I spoke with the commanding officer. Braveheart supposedly has massive battle scenes, and since it's medieval warfare, they need plenty of time to rehearse."

"Will it affect us?"

This was what Duke cared about most. "I don't want to start filming only to find we're short on men."

"The Irish side's stance is..."

Grabbing the coffee pot, Sofia refilled her cup. "...they've already provided the manpower. As for the exact shooting schedules, we need to coordinate with the Braveheart production ourselves."

Hearing this, Duke could only sigh. The Braveheart crew wasn't just shooting on an adjacent lot; they were also staying in neighboring hotels in Dublin. It was hard not to bump into them, but he hadn't expected to be dealing with them this soon.

"Who is the producer of Braveheart?" Duke asked.

Setting down her coffee cup, Sofia said, "The lead producer is Mel Gibson. He's very difficult to deal with. If I remember correctly, didn't you have some friction with him in the past?"

"In that case..."

Thinking it over, Duke said, "Let Robin or Charles negotiate with them. If I step in, things will only get worse."

Finding a large number of extras with military training wasn't easy. Otherwise, Duke wouldn't have brought the crew all the way to Ireland. The Irish authorities were quite straightforward—after the production hired a massive number of locals to work on the crew, they simply dispatched an army unit over. As for whether the two productions would clash over scheduling, that was none of their business.

Leaving the communication to the two production managers, Duke went back to his pre-production prep.

In terms of wardrobe, the specially hired costume designers created 3,000 highly authentic military uniforms. They even tracked down the company that manufactured combat boots for the US Military during WWII, commissioning them to reproduce 2,000 pairs in the exact wartime style. Afterward, all the uniforms and boots underwent a special weathering process to make them look as though they had survived countless battles.

While the prop department modified the tanks, they also collected and custom-ordered 2,000 weapons for filming. Specialists were assigned to perform daily maintenance and inspections on the firearms to ensure nothing went wrong.

Compared to the weapons, the biggest challenge the prop department faced was finding enough landing craft used by the Allied Forces during WWII. They scoured Britain and Scotland, finding only a handful. They eventually resorted to running ads in both the UK and the US, which finally led them to a large stockpile of landing craft in Palm Beach, California. These boats were subsequently shipped to Ireland, given a fresh coat of paint, and readied for the filming of the beach assault.

Safety was one of Duke's top priorities. He conducted on-site inspections of several shooting locations alongside security director Cole, pyrotechnics head Joss William, and cinematographer John Schwartzman. They marked up the script based on the explosion points, finalizing the actors' movement routes as quickly as possible. Duke repeatedly demanded thorough safety tests for the explosives, striving to guarantee everyone's safety during the detonation sequences.

When shooting scenes like this, minor bumps and bruises were inevitable. But a major safety accident would mean massive trouble. Not only would it disrupt the crew's filming schedule, but their next-door neighbors certainly wouldn't just sit idly by.

Duke never underestimated CAA's capabilities or the various underhanded tactics born from fierce competition.

Just as November arrived, the production welcomed its most heavyweight auditioning actor: Best Actor Oscar winner Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks only auditioned once. The moment he stepped into the audition room wearing a military uniform, everyone present—Duke included—knew that image and acting skills would absolutely not be a hurdle for Hanks playing Captain Miller.

Standing in front of the camera, Tom Hanks had a head of thick curly hair, a broad forehead, and full cheeks, radiating an innate sense of innocence. His fleshy nose, in particular, looked like an upside-down exclamation mark. This appearance was simply the perfect embodiment of the phrase "good guy."

Viewed through the lens, his performance was unadorned. He didn't project an aggressive aura, nor did he rely on overacted screaming. He knew exactly how to adapt to and shape his environment, easily transforming himself into just another ordinary man on camera.

In just over ten minutes, Tom Hanks won the approval of Duke and the rest.

As two of the most representative male actors in 1990s Hollywood, if the other Tom's acting skills could only score a passing grade of sixty, this Tom could easily score a ninety at the very least.

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

"Robin, Charles..."

Lifting his head from behind the camera, Duke looked at the two production managers. "What are your thoughts?"

"Captain Miller is an ordinary junior officer, just an average member of the Allied Forces."

The two production managers exchanged glances before Charles Roven took the initiative to speak. "Duke, according to your parameters, he's a classic everyday hero. I think Hanks's aura and appearance are a perfect fit."

Charles Roven's opinion clearly resonated with everyone, as the others all nodded in agreement.

"Get in touch with Hanks's agent." Duke thought for a moment before adding, "Robin, Charles, find a way to drive his quote down. I won't accept a $20 million base salary!"

Having made his stance clear, the rest was up to the producers to handle. Duke instructed Ben Watts, who was operating the camera, to collect the audition tape, and then led the way out of the audition room.

To Duke's surprise, Tom Hanks and his agent hadn't left. Instead, they were waiting for him in the adjacent tent that served as a lounge.

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

Just as he walked into the lounge, Hanks's agent, Eno Martin, stepped forward to greet him. Duke shook his hand lightly. "I've been wanting to meet you for a while too, Eno."

This wasn't entirely just polite talk. Duke had looked into CAA's background before. The man of Italian and Jewish descent standing before him was the future helmsman of CAA. After Michael Ovitz stepped down from Walt Disney as a failure and returned to the entertainment agency scene to launch a new firm—at one point poaching Martin Scorsese and others from CAA—it was Eno Martin who led CAA to utterly crush Michael Ovitz, forcing him into a bleak retirement.

In the 2000s, Martin Scorsese's consecutive failures to win Oscar Best Director were not entirely unrelated to his departure from CAA, an agency highly skilled in Oscar campaigns—aside from the fact that his blatant award-baiting motives were too obvious.

"Hi, Duke."

"Hi, Tom."

Shaking hands with Tom Hanks, Duke offered a timely compliment. "Your portrayal of Forrest Gump is my favorite movie character."

"I'm honored," Tom Hanks replied modestly.

Since this was their first formal meeting, they couldn't exactly dive into a deep conversation. They simply chatted briefly about matters related to Saving Private Ryan and the lead role of Captain John Miller.

Furthermore, contrary to what Duke had expected, Eno Martin didn't give him the fake, superficial smiles that Martin Bob and other CAA agents did. Instead, much like Tom Cruise's agent Pat Kingsley, he seemed genuinely interested in befriending him.

After a moment's thought, Duke mostly figured it out. Just as there was internal competition within Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox, CAA's upper management structure undoubtedly suffered from the same personnel struggles that plagued every large corporation. Eno Martin was very likely one of the people standing in opposition to Martin Bob.

"Missing out on a director like you,"

Eno Martin said with a look of regret as he took his leave, "is absolutely the biggest mistake CAA has made since its founding. I hope this won't affect our future cooperation."

Since the other party had shown goodwill, Duke naturally wouldn't refuse it. "I don't think CAA will be an obstacle between us."

After shaking hands with Eno Martin to say goodbye, Tom Hanks also stepped up to him. "I really love the character of Miller. I hope we have the chance to work together going forward."

"I'm also hoping to work with an Oscar Best Actor," Duke said politely.

With both him and Tom Hanks at their current status, whether they could work together didn't just depend on their mutual willingness. There were far too many different factors to consider.

The day after seeing off Tom Hanks, the audition candidates for the film's rescue target, James Ryan, arrived on set one after another. Although none of these young actors possessed truly outstanding acting skills, anyone capable of making it this far wasn't a terrible choice. However, after comprehensive consideration, the production went with Duke's preference, essentially locking in Leonardo DiCaprio to play Ryan.

Over the following period, the auditions for the main cast wrapped up one by one. Much like the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio, the actors the production finalized were mostly those with a solid foundation in acting but relatively affordable price tags.