Dead Eyes

Dead Eyes is a serialized personal nonfiction investigational podcast series created by actor and comedian Connor Ratliff. In 2000, Ratliff was cast in the role of Private John Zielinski on the HBO television series Band of Brothers and was set to begin filming when he was subsequently fired, allegedly because series co-creator Tom Hanks believed Ratliff had "dead eyes." In 2020, Ratliff set out to "solve the very stupid mystery" of why he was fired, and to more generally explore the concept of rejection in the entertainment industry. The podcast gained significant media attention in March 2022 when, for its season 3 finale, Ratliff finally interviewed Hanks. History Background Connor Ratliff grew up in Missouri, and after high school attended the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts in Liverpool, England. After graduating, he stayed in London pursuing a career in acting, when he auditioned for and landed the role of Private John Zielinski in the HBO World War II epic, Band of Brothers. Upon being cast in the role, Ratliff said, "I told everyone; this was the greatest thing that had ever happened to anybody... I really felt like this would be the thing that would jump-start my acting career." The day before Ratliff was supposed to begin filming, he was notified by his agent's assistant that Tom Hanks would be directing the episode, and that Hanks was having second thoughts, requesting Ratliff to immediately come in to reaudition for the part and saying that Hanks had looked at his audition tape and felt Ratliff had "dead eyes".