Today comedian and talk show host Jimmy Fallon is best known as the host of The Tonight Show, but back in 2001 he appeared in a cameo role in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's acclaimed HBO World War II miniseries Band of Brothers. Then a little-known actor and comedian who had recently joined Saturday Night Live as one of its featured players, Fallon had a few lines in Band of Brothers as 2nd Lieutenant George Rice, an officer of the 10th Armored Division who delivers supplies to Easy Company.
Band of Brothers boasted a massive ensemble cast that also featured actors like Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy and James McAvoy in minor roles. Based on the non-fiction book by Stephen A. Ambrose, the series follows the paratroopers of E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division. Among the first American paratroopers to be deployed in wartime, Easy Company was tasked with parachuting behind enemy lines and fighting some of the hardest and most deadly campaigns of the war.
The darkest time of Easy Company service in World War II came when they were tasked with holding the Allied line in Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. They were deployed without winter clothing and with barely any ammunition, and had to scrounge bullets and grenades off of the exhausted men who were leaving the front line. Jimmy Fallon's cameo can be seen towards the end of Band of Brothers episode 5, "Crossroads," as Easy Company is collecting ammunition from the soldiers. 2nd Lt. George Rice drives up in a Jeep and hands off boxes of ammunition. He warns them that the Germans' Panzer division is about to cut the road off, saying, "Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded." Captain Richard Winters (Damian Lewis) replies, "We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded."
Like the other cast members in Band of Brothers, Fallon was playing a real soldier who fought in World War II. Lieutenant George C. Rice had been tasked with scrounging up whatever ammunition he could find to arm the 101st Airborne for the impossible task ahead of them, and risked his life making eight supply runs to collect and deliver ammo as German forces were closing in. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions.
When asked about his role in Band of Brothers by Julianna Margulies on The Tonight Show, Fallon recalled, "That episode was directed by Tom Hanks, and I was so nervous. I had to just drive a jeep and and say my line, ‘Good luck, boys.'" And if it looks like Fallon was struggling a little with driving the Jeep, it's because he was:
"It’s a real WWII jeep, so you’ve got to, like, press the thing, put it in neutral … I don’t know how to drive. And I just say my line, and I’m supposed to look really heroic... So I’m so nervous. There’s like 200 extras. So I drive, I hit my spot. I go, ‘Good luck, boys!" and I forget to press the clutch, and these two dudes are pushing the car, and the wheels aren’t moving because the clutch isn’t in."
Fortunately, Hanks was able to make the scene work despite the Jeep-driving hiccups.