What The Cast Of Saving Private Ryan Looks Like Today

It may not be the most decorated war movie ever made (that accolade would actually go to Steven Spielberg's other WWII masterpiece, Schindler's List), 1998's Saving Private Ryan is a modern classic in its own right. Despite famously losing the Best Picture race to Shakespeare In Love in one of the most controversial Oscar snubs in the history of the ceremony, Spielberg's epic is remembered by audiences as one of the standout films of the '90s, with its depiction of the invasion of Normandy still as harrowing today as it was almost two decades ago. Unfortunately, while the director remains a force to be reckoned with in the film world, the same can't be said for every member of his Saving Private Ryan cast. Here's what they look like today.

He was Hanks' right hand man when he played cigar-smoking Brooklyn boy Private Reiben, but Ed Burns isn't likely to be starring alongside his Saving Private Ryan captain again any time soon. The New York native began to "fall in love with movies" after being exposed to the work of Woody Allen at a young age—the inspiration behind his debut film, 1995's The Brothers McMullen, created on a modest budget of $25,000. The movie won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and would help land him a part in Spielberg's epic—though in the years since, Burns has shied away from blockbusters, flitting between rom-coms and indie projects.

Burns is now perhaps best known for his TV work, making the transition to the small screen with guest parts on Will & Grace and Entourage, though his efforts to front his own show ended in relative disappointment. In 2015 Burns teamed with Spielberg's Amblin Productions for New York cop drama Public Morals, and although the show received generally positive reviews, it was cancelled by TNT after just a single season.

Barry Pepper's life in feature films began modestly with appearances in bizarre Swiss comedy Urban Safari and misguided box office blunder Firestorm, though his big break came when Spielberg cast him as left handed sniper Private Jackson in Saving Private Ryan. Pepper followed his captain and co-star Tom Hanks into Frank Darabont's well-received adaptation of The Green Mile the following year, though his next career move didn't pan out quite as well. The Canadian took on the role of Jonnie Goodboy Tyler in 2000's Battlefield Earth, famously described by veteran film critic Roger Ebert as "like taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time." Battlefield cleaned up at the Golden Raspberry Awards, winning Worst Picture, and Pepper himself getting the nod in the Worst Supporting Actor category.

Unlike the film's star, John Travolta, Pepper was able to weather the critical storm and has enjoyed a healthy career as a supporting actor in the years since. He returned to the battlefield in Mel Gibson's Vietnam flick We Were Soldiers, worked under the Coen Brothers in their remake of True Grit, and recently debuted in the Maze Runner franchise as survivalist Vince, though that series (along with Pepper's career, it seems) remains stalled after lead Dylan O'Brien broke his leg on the set of planned sequel The Death Cure.

Jeremy Davies has described himself as a "fortunate fool" when discussing his start in the film business, which was given to him by a young David O. Russell. The director and the actor were both feature film virgins when they teamed up for 1994's Spanking the Monkey, a black comedy with incestuous themes that to this day holds an impressive 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Four years later, he appeared as Saving Private Ryan's tritagonist Corporal Upham, delivering a jittery, sympathetic performance that would define him for a decade.

In 2008, he joined the cast of Lost as spindly-legged physicist Daniel Faraday and served up more of the same, reinforcing his image as the physically inept brainiac. After seeing the ABC drama through to its divisive conclusion in 2010, he took the part of Dickie Bennett in Justified, a role that not only allowed him to branch out, but brought him recognition in the form of an Emmy Award. The actor doesn't look likely to return to the big screen any time soon, having just won the part of Jesus in the upcoming TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

Ribisi was first exposed to the masses as Phoebe's unstable half-brother Frank Jr. in Friends, though he made a bid to be taken seriously as an actor with his turn as medic Wade in Saving Private Ryan—his dramatic death scene is one of the film's heaviest emotional blows. His performance earned him a starring role in Boiler Room the following year, a frontrunner to The Wolf of Wall Street that perhaps deserved more attention.

Despite his best efforts, Ribisi never quite cracked the leading man market, though he's chipped in with some solid supporting roles in the years since, most notably as Scarlett Johansson's uninterested lover John in Sofia Coppola's indie classic Lost in Translation and whiny corporate administrator Parker Selfridge in James Cameron's Avatar. Ribisi has developed a close professional relationship with Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane in recent years, appearing in both Ted films as well as the widely panned A Million Ways to Die in The West.

Another actor you likely forgot was part of the Saving Private Ryan cast, Bryan Cranston appeared briefly as Colonel I.W. Bryce, a War Department officer. This was before he became known to family audiences everywhere as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle, playing the father of the titular teen. He worked on the Fox sitcom from 2000 until its run ended in 2006, and the two years that followed were full of minor appearances and supporting roles. In 2008, his life and career changed drastically when he made his debut as Walter White in Breaking Bad.

By the time the AMC smash drew to a close, Cranston's trophy cabinet was well stocked, taking home a number of Emmys and a Golden Globe for his efforts. The success of the show made Cranston bankable and opened the door to a number of film roles, most notably the 2014 reboot of Godzilla (in which his presence was greatly exaggerated in trailers) and 2015 biopic Trumbo. Next up for the 60-year-old is the Power Rangers reboot, which the actor recently compared to Christopher Nolan's reimagining of Batman for his Dark Knight trilogy.

Paul Giamatti's career was given the kickstart it needed after he appeared in Howard Stern's hit 1997 comedy Private Parts, a bizarre autobiographical biopic that follows the radio personality from boyhood to nationwide fame. Giamatti gave a memorable performance as Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton, a composite character who represented the various radio directors Stern had clashed with over the years. The actor was inundated with character work the following year, not only appearing in Saving Private Ryan as a paratrooper but also popping up in the control room during The Truman Show and as a con man in The Negotiator.

Giamatti went on to win critical acclaim for his part in Oscar winning indie flick Sideways in 2004 and received a nod from the Academy in 2006 with a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for Cinderella Man, Ron Howard's boxing epic. "My back catalogue is insane," Giamatti told The Guardian at the time, "kind of random and all over the place." His choices have remained sporadic, staying on the Academy's radar with appearances in films like 12 Years A Slave while not being afraid to take on roles in brainless blockbusters such as San Andreas.

Leland Orser has one of those faces you're sure you recognize, but you're not sure where from. A career character actor, Orser's first gig was as a "Richard Gere type" in a coffee commercial that he was ultimately cut from. He went on to ply his trade in numerous films and TV shows, though precious few of those appearances lasted longer than a single scene. He was credited as "Tech/Medical Assistant #1" in Independence Day and as "Crazed Man in Massage Parlor" in Seven, and by the end of the '90s had advanced into named character territory, cast in the minor role of downed Glider pilot Second Lieutenant DeWindt in Saving Private Ryan.

The character Orser is best known for today is Sam from the Taken films, the friend and associate of nightmare father-in-law Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) whom he portrayed dutifully for the duration of the trilogy. When Taken 3 put the proverbial nail in the franchise coffin, Orser was able to wrangle himself a recurring part in Ray Donovan, cast as a cleric investigating the execution of a pedophile priest that the eponymous hitman carried out in the show's first season.