Watch The Trailer For Clint Eastwood's The 15:17 To Paris

Clint Eastwood is known as an actor's director, but what can he do with actors who aren't really actors?

For his upcoming movie The 15:17 to Paris, Eastwood cast the three soldiers who actually thwarted a terrorist attack on a Thalys train headed from Brussels to Paris in 2015. The soldiers saved the train after a member of ISIS boarded with a box cutter, a pistol, and an AK-47.

 Eastwood told Entertainment Weekly that casting Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone as themselves was an "interesting" experiment.

"I looked at a lot of very good actors who could possibly have done the job," Eastwood said. "But I kept looking at the faces of these young men—'boys,' I call them. I thought these faces were unique. It just struck me that it would be an interesting experiment. It could be bold or reckless, depending on how it comes out. [Laughs.] Anyway, they were enthusiastic about trying it, so we went with them, and I think people will be a little surprised. But as we got going, I started looking at other people who were involved. I thought, 'I wonder if they'd all like to come back?' One thing led to another."

Here's the official synopsis: "The film follows the course of the friends' lives, from the struggles of childhood through finding their footing in life, to the series of unlikely events leading up to the attack. Throughout the harrowing ordeal, their friendship never wavers, making it their greatest weapon and allowing them to save the lives of the more than 500 passengers on board."

The movie, which also stars Judy Greer (Jurassic World), Jenna Fischer (The Office), and Tony Hale (Veep), will arrive in theaters Feb. 9.