10 Things You Didn't Know About Saving Private Ryan
9. It's Who You Know
Matt Damon's role as Private Ryan is actually quite small in the film. He doesn't appear until an hour and forty minutes into the story, and before that he is used simply as an effective plot-point - an endgame for the film's emotional journey. All told, he's in the film for less than an hour.
None of this is a criticism of course, as he proved quite effectively to be a great fit for the young solider, pulling off moving speeches and giving the audience one more amazing character to root for.
The casting of Matt Damon might not have happened, mind, given the fact that the role was originally considered for Neil Patrick Harris. But after being introduced to Damon by his then co-star Robin Williams - who was working with him on Good Will Hunting - and after seeing him in his brief but committed role in Courage Under Fire, Spielberg decided to give Damon the part.
Proof that connections help a lot of the time, you've got to wonder: Barney Stinson as Private Ryan? That would have been something.