Alex Sagba-Brady, who played Cpl Frank Mellet in the acclaimed 2001 TV drama Band of Brothers, has revealed that a treasure trove of unseen footage from the series includes entire scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor. Speaking to James Holland at the We Have Ways military history festival on Saturday, Sagba-Brady admitted there had been “petitions” for an extended version from producer HBO.
“We shot so much and some of the other cast members were completely cut – they have got so much material,” he said. When Holland suggested there should be a new cut released, there were cheers and clapping from the packed audience.
A meticulous production
The ten-part drama, created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, was the most expensive miniseries ever made at the time. It was filmed largely in the UK with a cast made up of predominantly British actors, among them Simon Pegg, Andrew Scott and Damian Lewis, who played Captain Dick Winters.
The HBO series, which debuted on September 9, 2001, followed Easy Company’s troops from their training in the US to D-Day, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge and into Germany – all the way to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.
Speaking at Blackpit Brewery in Stowe, Bucks, Sagba-Brady paid tribute to the “meticulous” attention to detail that made the show a hit. “From dialogue coaches to get the language right, through to the costumes, everything that went into the show was meticulous,” he said.
Easy Company’s legacy
“It isn't a historical document, it’s a TV show so you have to have some shine on it, but Spielberg and Hanks got it spot on. It was shot chronologically so guys left the show as they were injured or killed which built a weight into it. If you ask any of the cast, it was the best job we’ve ever done without doubt.”
More than 3,000 military history fans descended on the site for the sixth annual We Have Ways Fest, inspired by the hit Goalhanger podcast hosted by Holland and Al Murray. The three-day event featured arms and armour demonstrations, a Spitfire flypast, reenactments and a series of packed podcast-style appearances from leading historians including John Nichol, Katja Hoyer, Damien Lewis, Claire Mulley, Antonia Senior and Rowland White among others.
Remembering the real soldiers
In his packed event marking the 25th anniversary of Band of Brothers, Sagba-Brady revealed that, where they were still alive, the cast all met the men they played. Sadly, Frank Mellett was killed by a sniper on January 13, 1945, while liberating the Belgian town of Foy. But Sagba-Brady later visited his grave in Long Island and said he remained “very special” to his own family.
“There were so many companies just as important as Easy but for me what made Easy Company special was that they were there for every major even from jumping into Normandy to stepping into the Eagles Nest – they were there at every point from D-Day to Market Garden to the Battle of the Bulge and that just resonated,” he added.
Earlier, screenwriter John Orloff had talked to Al Murray about writing the series. Holland said: “It’s the show that changed TV dramatically – the amount of money that went into every episode changed the scale of what you see today… people ask why there isn’t a British Band of Brothers-style drama and it’s because there isn’t any money in this country!”
He added: “It’s never been bettered – it revealed the value of really good screenwriting. It’s my bugbear that nearly all Second World War films ride roughshod over reality. That’s what Band of Brothers got right and its frustartiong that more people don’t do it like that.”
Sagba-Brady also joined seven fellow cast members to retrace the footsteps of the real-life Easy Company for a new documentary three years in the making, Band of Brothers: Legacy – including undergoing a parachute jump over Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 2024. They became the first recruits to undergo training at the real-life Camp Toccoa, in Georgia, America, in 82 years, including completing the gruelling six-mile run up and down Mount Currahee that opens the drama and was recreated in Hertfordshire for the drama. Sagba-Brady also revealed that fellow actor Mark Lawrence, who played Bill Dukeman, actually broke his ankle during the D-Day anniversary jump. Band of Brothers: Legacy is streaming now via HBO.
