Matthew had spent the last several months preparing thoroughly for this role. Helen Herman had ticulously chosen the part of Ronald Speirs, a character whose stoicism and hardened deanor would play to Matthew's strengths while concealing his weaknesses. As a soldier who rarely betrayed emotion, the role didn't demand excessive adjustnts from the actor.
It was the perfect cover for the limitations of his craft.
Matthew stood just off to the side of the two lead actors, Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough, waiting for filming to begin.
"Band of Brothers, Episode 2, Scene 11, Take 5, action!"
The mont the assistant director's voice rang out, Matthew instantly fell into character. He’d rehearsed the scene in front of a mirror at least twenty tis; he knew it by heart.
Unlike his solo rehearsals, he was now surrounded by other actors and caras, but he was no longer a novice and wasn't about to make the rookie mistake of glancing into the lens.
"Lieutenant Speirs." Damian looked over at Matthew and asked, "How are things on your end?"
Matthew replied, "Not great."
Damian continued, "How many n has D-Company assembled?"
Matthew’s expression was unreadable. "Not many, about twen—"
"Cut!" director Richard Loncraine shouted, bringing the shoot to a halt.
Hearing the command, Matthew imdiately broke character and ntally retraced his actions, trying to pinpoint his mistake.
After all, the director had yelled "cut" right as he was delivering his line.
Director Loncraine stood up and waved a hand at the three actors. "It's not you, it's a problem with the setup."
He walked over to stand between Matthew and Damian, looking first at Matthew, then at Damian, a frown of concentration on his face.
Matthew instinctively started to touch his face, then rembered it was still covered in camouflage paint.
"Let's reset the scene," Loncraine announced. "I'm going to make an adjustnt."
In the original scene, Matthew, as Ronald Speirs, exchanged a few words with Damian Lewis before walking over to the German prisoners of war, a quick mont to sketch out the character.
But Loncraine clearly had his own ideas, and after a brief exchange with Tom Hanks, he secured the producer's support.
As for the actors' opinions, none of the three, including Damian Lewis, were established stars, so their input was largely ignored.
In the vast majority of cases, actors had no say in such matters anyway.
Soon, Loncraine finished his adjustnts and returned to the three actors.
He addressed Matthew first. "Don't stand here when we start filming."
For a mont, Matthew thought the director was cutting Ronald Speirs's scene and felt a flicker of resistance, but he simply nodded.
Loncraine turned to Damian and Neil. "You two will continue your conversation from the last scene, about Lieutenant ehan and the commander of Easy Company."
Damian and Neil offered no comnt.
"And you, Matthew," Loncraine said, pointing toward Damian and Neil, "when those two are nearing the end of their conversation, you'll walk up to them with the sa lines."
He demonstrated the walk himself, then told Matthew, "On your way out, rember to ask them for cigarettes. You'll be giving them to the Germans in the next scene."
"I understand," Matthew said.
His part hadn't been cut; in fact, it had been expanded slightly from the script.
Loncraine returned to his director's chair and called out, "Let's run through it once."
Matthew quickly reviewed the new blocking with Damian and Neil, and then filming resud.
This ti, Matthew stood near the cara, facing the direction of the battalion, and listened intently to the conversation between Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough.
"...If he doesn't show up, Dick," Neil said, looking Damian in the eye, "aren't you next in line to take command?"
Hearing his cue, Matthew started walking. He was nearly upon the two n when Damian turned his head at the perfect mont to see him and greet him, "Hello, Lieutenant Speirs."
Matthew walked up and shook his hand. "Hey, Dick."
Damian asked, "How many n has D-Company assembled?"
"Not many," Matthew replied, his face an impassive mask. "Twenty at most."
"Are you the only officer?" Damian asked again.
Matthew nodded. "For now, yes."
He paused deliberately before adding, "We'll wait for orders."
From start to finish, he made no extraneous movents or expressions, his deanor as cold as stone.
From all the war films, docuntaries, and related materials Matthew had studied, this was how iron-willed soldiers behaved.
He took the initiative and asked, "Got any cigarettes?"
Damian shook his head, but Neil pulled a pack from his coat pocket and handed it over. Matthew took it without a word and imdiately walked away.
Just then, director Loncraine's voice bood, "Good! That's a wrap!"
Then he shouted, "Moving on!"
...
As the crew prepared to move to the next location for the scene with the German prisoners, Matthew went to the actors' lounge and sat down. Soone imdiately brought him a thick blanket and a cup of hot coffee.
Matthew wrapped the blanket around himself and took a sip of the coffee, trying to warm up.
It was now 2000, and while late January wasn't as frigid as December had been, a biting wind still cut through the cold.
The actors were portraying soldiers who had landed in France in June, so they couldn't wear heavy clothing and were dressed in thin uniforms for their scenes.
He had just drained half the cup when a makeup artist ca over to touch up his face.
"It's freezing," Michael Fassbender said, rubbing his hands together as he entered. He pulled up a chair and sat next to Matthew. "Bloody British weather."
Matthew glanced at him and asked, "Finished your scene?"
"Not yet, but they won't need
for a while," Michael Fassbender said, getting himself a cup of coffee. "Just wanted to warm up a bit."
He took a sip and gave Matthew a thumbs-up. "You were brilliant out there. Didn't look like a newcor at all."
"Really?" Matthew asked.
Michael nodded earnestly.
"I was wondering..." Michael’s face filled with curiosity. "How long did you prepare for this role?"
"Let's see..." Matthew calculated. "Four or five months."
Michael was slightly taken aback. "Several months of prep for such a small part?"
A look of realization dawned on his face. "No wonder you were at the top of your ga during training. You're the type who gives it a hundred percent."
Actors typically spent months preparing for a leading role, but it was rare for soone to dedicate four or five months to a small supporting part.
"Matthew!" An assistant director poked his head in. "Your scene is up. To the set."
"On my way." Matthew left the lounge and walked down a path slick with mud and water. It was lined with fake trees the crew had set up, so realistic they were indistinguishable from real ones, right down to the synthetic grass beneath them.
For modern Hollywood productions, this level of detail was the bare minimum.
After the crew finished their equipnt checks, filming began. Matthew put on his helt and stepped onto the set.
He had studied the character enough to know that he didn't need to show much emotion during the scene—he just had to maintain the sa stoic state as in the last shot.
Hearing Director Loncraine call "action," Matthew stomped down the muddy path toward the German prisoners, a cigarette dangling from his lips and a Thompson submachine gun in his right hand.
Scott Gris, who had been in training with him, walked past, but Matthew, his gaze fixed and determined, acted as if he didn't even see him.
He looked at the German prisoners and pulled the pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket. "Cigarettes?" he offered.
An extra playing a German soldier approached. Matthew handed him the entire pack. "Here."
As the soldier distributed the cigarettes to his comrades, Matthew flicked his lighter, brought the fla to his own cigarette, took a long drag, and exhaled slowly, watching the prisoners in silence.
"Excellent," Director Loncraine said, pleased. The scene was done in one take. "Matthew, great job!"
Hearing the director's praise, Matthew took off his steel helt and broke into a wide grin.
After a slight adjustnt, filming continued, this ti focusing on Matthew's close-ups. It took five full takes before the director was satisfied.
Matthew removed his helt, jumped down from the embanknt, and headed off to have his makeup removed.
He had completed all his scenes for the day.
The scene depicting Ronald Speirs shooting the German prisoners was handled ambiguously by the filmmakers, presented more as a battlefield rumor among the veterans than a confird event.
The second episode featured only a few scenes with Ronald Speirs. Matthew shot one more sequence with the troops supporting Easy Company, which concluded all of his work for the episode.
After a month of continuous filming at Hatfield Airport, even Matthew was physically and ntally drained. The production gave the actors who didn't have any imdiate scenes a two-day break.
Matthew had planned to use the ti to visit Britney, but a phone call forced him to change his plans. Her world tour had just begun, and there was no ti for them to et.
However, he wasn't alone in the UK. There were familiar faces on set he could spend ti with.
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