Damian Lewis

OK fine, if you’ve watched even five minutes of Band of Brothers you’d have been hard pressed not to notice Lewis who, playing Major Richard Winters in all 10 episodes and earning himself a Golden Globe nomination in the process, was one of the show’s central characters. Lewis has since starred in Homeland, Billions, and played Steve McQueen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, so it’s fair to say his American accent game is strong.

Michael Fassbender

Born in Germany and raised in Ireland, Fassbender was one of several actors to get their acting debut on Band of Brothers (he’d previously been working as a bartender and a postman). He starred in seven episodes as machine gunner Burton “Pat” Christenson, and has since gone on to star in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (was QT a BoB fan perchance?) Steve McQueen’s Hunger and next year, in Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins.

Simon Pegg

Band of Brothers wasn’t exactly Pegg’s big break given that he and Jessica Hynes had co-created Channel 4’s iconic comedy series Spaced in 1998, but playing First Sergeant William Evans, the lacky to David Schwimmer’s jumped-up Captain Herbert Sobel, certainly got him some transatlantic attention. He has since appeared in The Adventures of Tintin and Ready Player One for Spielberg, as well as the Star Trek and Mission: Impossible franchises, with new instalments of both on the horizon.

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James McAvoy

McAvoy’s acting career was already up and running when he played Private James W Miller in a single episode of Band of Brothers (“Replacements”) but needless to say it did him no harm (sadly, the same can’t be said for his character). McAvoy has since starred in the X-Men movies and the His Dark Materials TV series – of which the third series is imminent – as well as the BBC’s recent (and excellent) comedy-drama about lockdown, Together.

Andrew Scott

Way back when Hot Priest was yet to stir the nation’s loins, Scott played the ill-fated Private John D Hall in a single episode of Band of Brothers (“Day of Days”), having first appeared for Spielberg in Saving Private Ryan – though admittedly playing “soldier on the beach” he might not have had the director’s full attention. He’ll next be playing Tom Ripley in Showtime’s Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novels.

Dominic Cooper

It might be stretching it to even describe Cooper’s single episode appearance (in the opening episode, “Currahee”) as a cameo, given that it’s so brief as to teeter into “extra” territory (we couldn't spot him on rewatching but are assured that's him on the far left), but his character did have a name – Allington – and it no doubt looked good on his CV given he’s gone on to star in Mamma Mia!, Preacher, and, next up, in Spaghetti Western That Dirty Black Bag.

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Marc Warren

Warren, who has just starred in Slack on Amazon Prime, is a British actor of the classic “oh that guy!” kind, appearing in everything from State of Play to The Good Wife. In his early thirties though he was Private Albert Blithe, who appeared in three episodes of Band of Brothers and was the central character of one of them, “Carenten”, in which he does an excellent line in existential terror.

Stephen Graham

Graham has become a byword for quality, gritty, British drama, most notably in his work on Shane Meadows’ This is England series, though he’s also done glossy American stuff like Boardwalk Empire and The Irishman too. He made it into two Band of Brothers episodes as Staff Sergeant Myron Ranney who, in quite the character arc, earned both a demotion and a Bronze Star. See him next in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Andrew Haigh’s The North Water on BBC Two.

Dexter Fletcher

Depending on your age, you might have spent the early part of your life thinking Fletcher was American, thanks to his turns as Spike in kids’ TV show Press Gang and before that in Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone. He later appeared in nine episodes of Band of Brothers as Staff Sergeant John W Martin, and while he still acts, he’s increasingly turning to directing, including feature films Eddie the Eagle and Rocketman. Next up for him is The Offer, a miniseries about the making of The Godfather starring Miles Teller. We will most certainly accept.

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Tom Hardy

Hardy once told Esquire that he didn’t know what a “mark” was when he was cast as Private John A Janovec in two Band of Brothers episodes (“Points” and “Why We Fight”), though as you can probably tell from his subsequent stellar career, he’s a fast learner. Soon Esquire’s current cover star will be bursting onto screens – and, weirdly, if you know the premise, out of his own body – in superhero action movie Venom: Let There Be Carnage. (Just in case you don’t know the mark thing either, they're those bits of tape on the floor so actors know where to stand. You're welcome.)

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