Band of Brothers Rewatch, Extras: Ron Livingston's Video Diaries
“My name’s Ron Livingston. I’m playing a man named Lewis Nixon. He was the intelligence officer for Easy Company in the second world war. 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. And I shot a video diary. Here it is
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What are your favorite bits?
See the recap.
Who’s your favorite person in the Diaries?
It's really frustrating that there's so little of most of them. Given what we have, Ron Livingston for sure. Then McDonough. Honorary Mention to McCall, Wahlberg and Warden.
What part would you have hated the most?
Either the last mile of the morning run or waking up after having done guard duty at night.
What would you like to have seen more of?
Everyone! Just more time and more people. And I'd kill for some footage of Lewis and Livingston.
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Every time that comes on screen I crack up laughing. Especially after watching with you, Mary.
I LOVE Ron. The man needs more work because we are really being deprived. Personally, I think he should start with a several episode arch on "Life".
I LOVE that you used that hugging icon. I love that quick moment. They are so cute. I love him getting all nervous when he makes the phone call.
I too wish we got more of the diaries because they were really good! Early on you could tell they would be something when his camera gets taken away from him and he has to stop and do push ups. And then suddenly all the men are. Right then, you just knew that this was going to be special. They bonded like the real men of Easy.
If that doesn't make sense, ignore it. I'll be back tomorrow when my head doesn't feel like its going to dive into the keyboard.
::goes off to think of RL's Nixon:: big happy sigh.
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Yes to all that. I was so sad when Standoff was cancelled. He was on my TV every week! :-( Good news (which I think I emailed you) is that he has one series and two movies in the works. And yes, as I lay me down to sleep each night, RL on Life is on the short list. :-)
he has to stop and do push ups. And then suddenly all the men are. Right then, you just knew that this was going to be special.
Yeah, isn't that nice? Credit FJH for startting that. What actors do is such a fascinating thing to me, and that's a little of it there. The line between their own experiences and the experiences of the characters they play. It must be a funny feeling to keep stepping back and forth across the line.
Aw, your head? Are you still in pain?
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Yeah, isn't that nice? Credit FJH for startting that.
What an inspired decision by FJH, eh? He had to know that if he joined in, the other guys would, too. Without any of them needing to say it, I believe they all sensed that this is what the RL Men of Easy did in such situations. That it was the right thing to do.
What's great about the Video Diaries, to me, is how much getting in character can be observed.
-- It seems that DL stayed in his American accent all through boot camp. (Right?)
-- "I'm Buck Compton." The gleam in his eye tells me NM was thinking "Buck faced much worse. I can deal with an owie."
RL talks about the ubiquitous Captain Dye imitation. “Richard Speight has one that involves a hand puppet.”
Loved the deadpan way RL says that. :-) And yeah Mary, Cudlitz takes the prize.
Sorry. Too much wrong with this post for my taste.
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I think so, too. I get the feeling he's done it before. :-)
That it’s not just playing; this is a chance to honor the real veterans by making BoB as authentic as possible.
You can see that, at that moment, he's all about inspiring the actors, making them feel like they're ready to represent the real-life heroes. Because he senses that it's important to them to make it authentic. It's a great speech.
Appropriately salty for a man-to-men speech, too, like the kind delivered in locker rooms before big games.
(I think adding the strings was a bit heavy-handed, though; filmmakers seem to want to add music in situations that would be better without it. No one needs stirring music to be told that's a special, dramatic moment.)
He calls Dick Winters on the phone and has trouble with his speakerphone. All nervous and cuteI really ( ... )
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