Hanks, born on July 9th, 1956 in Concord, California was cast as John Miller. John Miller was a Captain with the U.S. Army and took part in the mission to locate Private James Ryan. There was one scene when Captain Miller heard some German propaganda over a loudspeaker and simply rolled his eyes at what he heard. In another scene, he and Private Jackson spoke after Private Jackson said he wanted to give his opinion of the mission. He informed Captain Miller that he felt the entire mission was mishandled due to the improper allocation of military resources. Captain Miller took this criticism seriously since he informed his men that the way Private Jackson voiced his concerns was proper. Despite the concerns, though, the regiment continued to look for Private Ryan even while knowing of Private Jackson's reservations. In Captain Miller's final scene, he died after some serious wounds sustained in battle. Hanks starred in the movies, 'Philadelphia', 'The Green Mile' and 'Cast Away'. In 1999, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for 'Saving Private Ryan' but lost to Roberto Benigni for 'Life is Beautiful'. Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role that year were Ian McKellen for 'Gods and Monsters', Nick Nolte for 'Affliction' and Edward Norton for 'American History X'.