By Megan Riedlinger
7:58am PDT, Jul 19, 2018
It's hard to believe Steven Spielberg's blockbuster flick "Saving Private Ryan" was released on July 24, 1998 — 20 years ago this month! The war film, which was the highest grossing movie that year, netted 11 Academy Award nominations and helped kickstart the careers of some young actors… including Vin Diesel! Keep reading to see where the cast ended up…
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1998 was just the beginning of Matt Damon's impressive Hollywood career. He followed up the Steven Spielberg war flick with 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley," starring alongside Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett. The "Ocean's Eleven" franchise came shortly after, beginning in 2001, and he entered into another wildly successful franchise, the "Bourne" films, in 2002. By 2007, Forbes listed him as the "Ultimate Star Payback," meaning he was the one of Hollywood's best investments when in a starring role, with his films earning $29 for every $1 paid toward his salary. The box-office smashes allowed Matt to venture into more critically acclaimed films like 2009's "Invictus," which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, and 2015's "The Martian," which earned him a Golden Globe for best actor and another Academy Award nomination, this time for best actor. Matt has been happily married to Luciana Barroso since 2005. The couple has four daughters: Isabella, born in 2006; Gia, born in 2009; and Stella, born in 2010; as well as Luciana's daughter from her first marriage, Alexia, who was born in 1998. Next up for the star? "Ford vs. Ferrari" co-starring Christian Bale and Caitriona Balfe, which is set for a 2019 release.
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Tom Hanks played Captain Miller, the man who receives the order to go find Private Ryan after the soldier's brothers are all killed in action.
Tom Hanks was already a well-established, Academy Award-winning actor by 1998, but plenty more hits would come after "Saving Private Ryan." Among them? 1999's "The Green Mile," 2000's "Cast Away" and five more projects with Steven Spielberg — the miniseries "Band of Brothers," which Tom also co-wrote and executive produced, and the films "Catch Me If You Can" in 2002, "The Terminal" in 2004, "Bridge of Spies" in 2015 and "The Post" in 2017. He also starred in critically acclaimed flicks like "Charlie Wilson's War" in 2008 and "Captain Phillips" in 2014, which both earned him Golden Globe nominations for best actor. Next up, Tom returns to his war-film roots in 2019's "Greyhound." Tom has four children — son Colin, born in 1977, and daughter Elizabeth, born in 1982, from his first marriage to Samantha Lewes — and sons Chet, born in 1990, and Truman, born in 1995, with second wife Rita Wilson.
Adam Goldberg played Private Mellish, the wise-cracking soldier who provided some comic relief in the dramatic film.
His role in "Saving Private Ryan" was a huge departure from Adam Goldberg's typical work, which has largely been comedies and voice performances. After 1998, he had small roles in films like 2001's "A Beautiful Mind" and 2003's "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." He found success on television, popping up on episodes of "Will & Grace," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "My Name is Earl" before landing a role as Jimmy on "Joey" from 2005 to 2006. He played Nick on "Entourage" in 2007, starred on Fargo as "Mr. Numbers" in 2014 and most recently played Harden on the 2018 NBC show "Taken." Off-screen, Adam has one child, son Bud, who was born in 2013, whom he shares with longtime girlfriend Roxanne Daner.
Tom Sizemore portrayed Sergeant Horvath, Miller's right-hand man, in the blockbuster film.
"Saving Private Ryan" is still Tom Sizemore's biggest hit to date, but he has continued worked in Hollywood. He kept his war-movie streak going with the 2001 film "Pearl Harbor" before starring in action-slicks and thrillers like 2004's "Natural Born Killers," 2006's "The Genius Club" and 2008's "Stiletto," while also doing stints on television series like the short-lived 2001 show "Robbery Homicide Division" and the 2008 series "Crash." But while landing roles, Tom was dealing with substance abuse issues, which were chronicled on the 2007 VH1 reality series, "Shooting Sizemore." The show focused on his past addictions to methamphetamine and heroin and his appeal of an assault conviction involving former girlfriend Heidi Fleiss, the notorious Hollywood madam, back in 2003. The exes were both featured on Season 3 of "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2010 as Tom continued to battle his addictions. Allegations were again raised against Tom in 2017 when it was revealed that he had been removed from the set of "Natural Born Killers" back in 2003 after he was accused of molesting an 11-year-old actress. The woman, now 26, filed a lawsuit against the actor in May 2018 claiming she developed emotional problems as a result of the abuse. Tom has two children with ex Janelle McIntire, twins Jayden and Jagger, who were born in 2005.
Did you remember that Vin Diesel was in "Saving Private Ryan"? He was! Early in his career, Vin nabbed the role of Private Caparzo, seen here on the left.
"Saving Private Ryan" was Vin Diesel's first major Hollywood role (he'd only appeared in indie flicks prior to being cast in the Steven Spielberg film). He parlayed that part into an A-list career that's included the "Fast and Furious" franchise, surprising family-friendly choices like 2005's "The Pacifier," and "Guardians of the Galaxy" (he's the voice of Groot) as well as dramas like "The Boiler Room" and "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk." Next up for the big star? The Valiant Comics flick "Bloodshot." As for Vin's personal life, he and longtime partner Paloma Jimenez have three children together: daughter Hania, born in 2008; son Vincent, born in 2010; and daughter Pauline (who's named after his late co-star Paul Walker), born in 2015.
With just two films under his belt, Edward Burns (far right) took on the role of Private Reiben in 1998's "Saving Private Ryan."
Edward Burns starred in the 2004 romantic comedy "The Holiday" and pulled triple duty writing, acting and directing films like "Looking for Kitty" and "Newlyweds" as well as a series of shorts called "The Lynch Pin." He's also popped up on the small screen with roles on "Entourage" and "Will & Grace" in the '00s. More recently, he appeared in another film he wrote, directed and starred in, "Summertime." He's happily married to supermodel Christy Turlington, with whom he shares daughter Grace, born in 2003, and son Finn, born in 2006.
The role of Corporal Upham — the group's interpreter — was played by Jeremy Davies.
Since serving as a soldier in "Saving Private Ryan," Jeremy Davies has worked steadily in Hollywood. Some of his most notable roles? Charles Manson in CBS's "Helter Skelter," Daniel Faraday on the megahit show "Lost," and a character on FX's "Justified." The latter actually nabbed him a Primetime Emmy nod for outstanding guest actor in a drama series in 2012. More recently, he appeared in the 2018 film "The House That Jack Built" alongside Matt Dillon.
Barry Pepper tackled the role of Private Jackson in "Saving Private Ryan."
For Barry Pepper, "Saving Private Ryan" remains his most notable role. Since then, he's had a mix of critically acclaimed and panned work. He picked up a Razzie Award for worst supporting actor after he starred in "Battlefield Earth" but won a Primetime Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries for 2011's "The Kennedys." More recently, he starred as Vince in the popular "Maze Runner" franchise. He's been married to Cindy Pepper since 1997. They share a daughter, Annaliese, who was born in 2000.
Giovanni Ribisi played T-4 medic Wade in "Saving Private Ryan."
Giovanni Ribisi has had a successful run in Hollywood. He appeared in hit films like the 2000 Nicolas Cage flick "Gone in Sixty Seconds," 2003's "Lost in Translation" and the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar." He also had a recurring role on "Friends" as Frank Buffay Jr., Phoebe's brother. He starred on "My Name is Earl" for three years from 2005 to 2008 and more recently appeared on "Sneaky Pete" as Pete. A Scientologist, Giovannni has been married and divorced twice. He has one child from his first marriage to Mariah O'Bien, daughter Lucia. He didn't have kids with his second wife, model Agyness Deyn.
Ted Danson portrayed Captain Fred Hamill in "Saving Private Ryan."
Ted Danson was already a world-famous actor by the time he signed on to "Saving Private Ryan," and his career continued to thrive, mainly on the small screen. His most notable television roles have been on "Becker" from 1998 to 2004, "Damages" from 2007 to 2010, and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" from 2011 to 2015 (he played the same character on "CSI: Cyber" until 2016). He also appeared as himself on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" sporadically from 2000 until 2017. More recently, Ted's been starring alongside Kristen Bell on NBC's "The Good Place." Off-screen, Ted is happily married to his third wife, actress Mary Steenburgen. He has two daughters with his second wife, Cassandra Coates.
