Joe Mazzello
Band of Brothers was one of the greatest TV shows that has ever come out of America and Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are hoping to make it two ina row with The Pacific.
Yes the pair are returning to the Second World War to tell the story of the men that fought the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa.
- How important was it for you to build up a bond with the other actors in order to make The Pacific more believable?
It was crucial. It was crucial more just to be able to survive the experience with your sanity. Because it was absolutely the most difficult thing I've ever done. Hands down, across the board.
Every single day was a battle, no pun intended. But the guys that I worked with, I kind of felt like, boy, it's going to be a lot of actors, a lot of type A personalities, y'know, it was going to be rough, there were going to be fights I felt like.
But amazingly we got along so well. We spent every waking moment together, and I'm so happy to be able to say that truthfully. Because I have to say it no matter what. But I really believe it because I'm still so close with all of them.
I try to talk to every single one of them. It's a big cast but everything was so relaxed and we laughed so much.
It was great to be able to have that because we knew what we were about to go into was so difficult and so taxing on the mind and the body that if we didn't laugh and we didn't enjoy each other so much then I don't know if we'd have been able to get through it.
- How much did the locations and the costumes help you believe that you were actually in a battle in The Pacific?
Everything helps. The weaponry, the uniform, the locations, everything was so authentic from beginning to end that if there wasn't a camera in your face then you would absolutely believe that you were about to get blown up and about to get shot.
I can't stress enough, it was so difficult, y'know, every single day was just a new challenge to get through. And you felt like you were living it day in, day out.
But when you think about all that you did, going through the mud and the running, the explosions and the weapons, at the end of the day, it's silly a bit, in comparison to what the real men went through, and so you always have that for a context whenever you think you're big and bad and whatever because these guys really experienced this and it always puts it in perspective.
- How much is this a story of heroism?
Oh, completely. It always strikes me when I think of World War II specifically, that these guys were just regular guys. Like, my grandfather served in the Pacific. He owned a deli for his entire life. There were mechanics and painters and electricians.
These were not professional warriors, these were kids. And to think of what they went through and then for them to come home and so humbly just say, 'We did what we had to do'" and then went on living their very humble lives.
It just always strikes me and I can't get that out of my mind that we asked so much of these people and we still do to this day. And it's just so amazing what they're able to go through. Of course they're heroes., y'know, they saved the world.
- Why do you think your character wanted to go to war? Was there a social pressure at the time?
Y'know, there wasn't. For him anyway, I can't speak for the general population, but for Sledge his great grandfather served in the Civil War, his father served in World War I. He came from a whole line of men who served their country and he wanted to go for that reason.
He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to continue that lineage. And his father didn't actually want him to go. Talk about pressure. There was pressure for him to not go, and he was kept out of the war at the beginning until he finally said, 'I am going'.
And I just feel like the men of that generation had that sense of patriotism and duty to their country. And he wanted to go and of course what he was met with was something that he could never imagine, as prepared as he was.
- How do you think starring in The Pacific will alter your professional life?
Y'know I've been acting since I was a little kid. Five years old. I had a lot of success growing up and I kind of went away from it for a little while and did kind of the normal things, high school and SATs, the Prom and girls and college. Y'know, I wanted to do all that.
I went to USC film school and learned about the other side of the camera. I graduated and just said, 'Y'know, I'm not done with this yet'. I think acting is something that I am innately the best at, more so, I'd say, than the other things in my life.
And I knew that I just wanted to keep doing and I was so fortunate to be able to be in such an amazing project and hopefully it will lead to good things for me. You never know.
- How interesting is it for you to get lost in someone else's life like this?
That's why I do it. It's about that moment where you lose yourself completely. And you make it real for you. You actually experience what's happening and you can feel it.
You feel yourself hitting that. It's so rewarding because you almost kind of smile inside your own head knowing this is authentic, this is actually happening. It's that rush that makes you want to do this job.
- What about attending boot camp? Would you want to repeat it?
Never in my life. Never, ever, ever, ever (laughs). I think that's the point though. I mean, it was so tough. I lost 12 pounds in ten days at boot camp, if that is any indication of how it is. I was kind of like, 'C'mon, we're a bunch of actors y'know'. 'You have to be up before 11 o'clock every morning, y'know. Fillet only once a week!'
I thought it was going to be easy. It was not. It was insanely challenging. We were in the middle of the jungle. Boy, I would never want to go through that again. I'm sure many people are happy to hear that.
- How did you find working with many different directors on The Pacific?
Oh, it was really interesting because we had some days where we would be with three different directors in one day. And the entire tone of the set was different based on who the director was.
Yeah, it was challenging because I'm there the whole ten episodes, from the beginning to the end. And I have to make sure that my character kind of follows a certain line.
And so it's a delicate balance between what the director wants you to do and your own feelings of how the character is supposed to go and the arc. And so I found it really interesting and I enjoyed it. It was kind of a challenge.
Band of Brothers was one of the greatest TV shows that has ever come out of America and Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are hoping to make it two ina row with The Pacific.
Yes the pair are returning to the Second World War to tell the story of the men that fought the Japanese on Guadalcanal, through the rain forests of Cape Gloucester and the strongholds of Peleliu, across the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima and through the horror of Okinawa.
- How important was it for you to build up a bond with the other actors in order to make The Pacific more believable?
It was crucial. It was crucial more just to be able to survive the experience with your sanity. Because it was absolutely the most difficult thing I've ever done. Hands down, across the board.
Every single day was a battle, no pun intended. But the guys that I worked with, I kind of felt like, boy, it's going to be a lot of actors, a lot of type A personalities, y'know, it was going to be rough, there were going to be fights I felt like.
But amazingly we got along so well. We spent every waking moment together, and I'm so happy to be able to say that truthfully. Because I have to say it no matter what. But I really believe it because I'm still so close with all of them.
I try to talk to every single one of them. It's a big cast but everything was so relaxed and we laughed so much.
It was great to be able to have that because we knew what we were about to go into was so difficult and so taxing on the mind and the body that if we didn't laugh and we didn't enjoy each other so much then I don't know if we'd have been able to get through it.
- How much did the locations and the costumes help you believe that you were actually in a battle in The Pacific?
Everything helps. The weaponry, the uniform, the locations, everything was so authentic from beginning to end that if there wasn't a camera in your face then you would absolutely believe that you were about to get blown up and about to get shot.
I can't stress enough, it was so difficult, y'know, every single day was just a new challenge to get through. And you felt like you were living it day in, day out.
But when you think about all that you did, going through the mud and the running, the explosions and the weapons, at the end of the day, it's silly a bit, in comparison to what the real men went through, and so you always have that for a context whenever you think you're big and bad and whatever because these guys really experienced this and it always puts it in perspective.
- How much is this a story of heroism?
Oh, completely. It always strikes me when I think of World War II specifically, that these guys were just regular guys. Like, my grandfather served in the Pacific. He owned a deli for his entire life. There were mechanics and painters and electricians.
These were not professional warriors, these were kids. And to think of what they went through and then for them to come home and so humbly just say, 'We did what we had to do'" and then went on living their very humble lives.
It just always strikes me and I can't get that out of my mind that we asked so much of these people and we still do to this day. And it's just so amazing what they're able to go through. Of course they're heroes., y'know, they saved the world.
- Why do you think your character wanted to go to war? Was there a social pressure at the time?
Y'know, there wasn't. For him anyway, I can't speak for the general population, but for Sledge his great grandfather served in the Civil War, his father served in World War I. He came from a whole line of men who served their country and he wanted to go for that reason.
He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to continue that lineage. And his father didn't actually want him to go. Talk about pressure. There was pressure for him to not go, and he was kept out of the war at the beginning until he finally said, 'I am going'.
And I just feel like the men of that generation had that sense of patriotism and duty to their country. And he wanted to go and of course what he was met with was something that he could never imagine, as prepared as he was.
Tagged in The Pacific