Lt Tyler (McConaughey) confronts crew member Mazzola (Erik Palladino).
“I see U-571 as being a seat-edge suspense movie first; a submarine movie second; and a World
War II movie third”
Jonathan Mostow
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In charge of the men and of the vintage S-33 submarine at the centre of U-571 is Lieutenant Commander Mike Dahlgren, played by Bill Paxton, one of Hollywood’s most adventurous leading men thanks to Twister, Apollo 13 and A Simple Plan. “When I first read the script, Michael Douglas was set to play Tyler, so I didn’t have a clue what part Jonathan had me in mind for,” he says. “But when Michael left the picture - mainly because it took so long building the 700-ton submarine in Malta and he didn’t want to stay off the market for such a lengthy period - it went through changes in age ranges and I was offered Dahlgren. I can’t talk about the plot because it contains so many shocks concerning our collective fates. But I wanted to be in it because here was a chance to play a World War II submarine captain with a real nobility and a code of honour you just don’t see anymore. Those are qualities I wish I had and I found it a privilege to embody them on screen.”
But the one actor that everyone involved in U-571 admits to being thrilled with the opportunity of working alongside was Harvey Keitel, who plays Chief Klough.
“I didn’t cast Harvey: he cast himself,” grins Mostow. “I got a phone call from him completely out of the blue saying, ‘I’ve read your script. I absolutely love it and I want to be in it’. I was totally shocked as I hadn’t thought of him, figuring he would be busy making movies like The Piano. But he told me he, too, had grown up with the Run Silent, Run Deep ilk and it was his dream to be in a submarine picture. How could I refuse him his fantasy?”
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