In casting the film Spielberg sought to create a cast that “looked” the part, stating in an interview, “You know, the people in World War II actually looked different than people look today”, adding to this end that he cast partly based on wanting the cast “to match the faces I saw on the newsreels.”
Gordon and co-producer Gary Levinsohn were interested in having Tom Hanks appear in the film as Captain Miller. Gordon recounted, “Tom was enormously excited about it and said, ‘Steven and I have always wanted to work together.” Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were initially considered for the role of Miller.
Before filming began, several of the film’s stars, including Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, and Tom Hanks, endured ten days of “boot camp” training led by Marine veteran Dale Dye and Warriors, Inc., a California company that specializes in training actors for realistic military portrayals. Matt Damon was trained separately, so… Read More
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Private_Ryan#Pre-production