10 Things You Didn't Know About Saving Private Ryan

Once Damon was cast and the rest of the actors were ready to go, the training kicked in to get them all ready for their roles. In hopes of driving home the idea of what soldiers during World War Two went through, the lead actors - Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, Edward Burns, Jeremy Davies, Tom Sizemore, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg and Giovanni Ribisi - were sent to boot camp for ten days.

Led by on-set military advisor Captain Dale Dye, the actors were pushed through intense combat situations, taken on marches and taught how to prepare and fire the weapons of the time.

The only person spared from this exercise was Damon, who Spielberg kept out of boot camp in order to make the rest of the cast resent him - as their characters do in the film.

In fact, the only person who seemed genuinely happy to be at boot camp was Hanks. After the rest of the cast voted to leave and set themselves up in a nice hotel before shooting started, fearing they would over-work themselves, Hanks elected to stay and the others (probably reluctantly) joined him. Vin Diesel later went on record to say he found newfound respect for the megastar, who didn't have to be there but who wanted to do right by the heroes they were portraying.