Andrew Scott reveals he played a tiny role in 'Saving Private Ryan' and felt very proud

• Andrew Scott played Soldier on the Beach in the D-Day opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan in 1998
• He told The Hollywood Reporter it was his first experience on a set of such enormous scale
• Scott said: "Tom Hanks rolled over me, and I was very happy to be there"
  

Andrew Scott has opened up about his brief but significant early appearance in one of cinema's most celebrated war films, recalling what it felt like to be part of a sequence that has since gone down in movie history.

The Hollywood Reporter interviewed the 49-year-old Irish actor, who spoke candidly about portraying the role of Soldier on the Beach in Saving Private Ryan, the epic 1998 war film directed by Steven Spielberg.

A small role in a historic scene

Scott's appearance features in the film's legendary opening sequence, set during the Normandy Invasion at Omaha Beach on D-Day — widely regarded as one of the most powerful and viscerally realistic scenes ever committed to film.

Reflecting on the experience with characteristic warmth, he said: "I had one line or something, and Tom Hanks rolled over me, and I was very happy to be there."

The All of Us Strangers star elaborated further on what the experience meant to him at that stage of his career: "It was an extraordinary thing — it was my first time being on a set of that enormity, and I feel very proud that I got to be a tiny part of that. It's a sequence that's gone down in movie history."

The story behind the film

For those unfamiliar with the film's background, Saving Private Ryan was inspired by the true story of four brothers — Robert, Edward, Frederick "Fritz" Niland, and Preston — from Upstate New York, all of whom served in the Second World War.

The film went on to receive eleven nominations at the 71st Academy Awards ceremony in 1999, ultimately securing five wins.