Grasping for a way to describe the indescribable, stunned survivors of terrorist attacks have often reached for the imagery of cinema: 鈥淚t was like a movie.鈥� But that phrase has never taken on quite the same meaning as it has for Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler.
On Aug. 21, 2015, the three young American friends were on a backpacking trip through Europe when they thwarted a terror attack on a high-speed Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris, tackling and subduing Moroccan-born Ayoub El Khazzani, who was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, a 9mm pistol and other weapons.
Their bravery made headlines around the world and earned France鈥檚 Legion of Honour, various military awards and a visit to the White House.
Now, in the latest improbable twist, the three are playing themselves in a Clint Eastwood-directed film about the event, The 15:17 to Paris, opening Friday.
On a recent afternoon, Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler 鈥� who are all 25 鈥� sat in a hotel lobby in Burbank after a taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, trying to wrap their heads around this surreal turn of events. Childhood friends who grew up together in Sacramento, the three have never been in so much as a school play. Yet here they are starring in a major studio film directed by a genuine Hollywood legend.
鈥淲e were raised on Clint Eastwood鈥檚 movies 鈥� I still remember at Spencer鈥檚 house he had Hang 鈥楨m High, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,鈥� said Skarlatos, who was an Oregon Army National Guard specialist at the time of the attack, on holiday after a stint in Afghanistan. He shook his head. 鈥淭o get to do all this with guys that you鈥檝e been friends with for so long 鈥� our whole lives have been like a movie. It鈥檚 ridiculous.鈥�
Eastwood first met Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler when he presented them with the Hero Award at the 2016 Spike Guy鈥檚 Choice Awards. Agreeing to direct The 15:17 to Paris 鈥� which retraces the events leading up to the attack all the way back to the three men鈥檚 childhoods 鈥� he had spent weeks auditioning actors to play them. But in his mind, he kept circling back to the real-life guys.
鈥淚 thought they were very charismatic, and all three of them seemed like they were extremely smart,鈥� Eastwood said. 鈥淚 thought: 鈥業f I can get them approaching this thing without too much thought and too much worry and anxiety, they could do it.鈥� 鈥�
Casting people as themselves in movies is not unprecedented, of course. Decorated Second World War soldier Audie Murphy played himself in the 1955 film To Hell and Back. Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali starred in their own biopics.
Still, when Eastwood first asked Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler if they鈥檇 be up for playing themselves, they weren鈥檛 sure how to respond. Though they had co-authored the 2016 book on which the film was based with Jeffrey E. Stern, the idea of actually appearing in the movie had never occurred to them. The start of production was just three weeks away, and none of them had ever even set foot on a movie set.
They said yes, then almost immediately began to second-guess themselves.
鈥淚 really didn鈥檛 want to ruin the movie,鈥� Sadler said. 鈥淚鈥檓 like: 鈥楢ctors can do this and it would probably be more successful.鈥� But Spencer was like: 鈥楢re you really going to look 20 years down the line and say you could have been in a Clint Eastwood movie but you鈥檙e not?鈥� And that convinced me right there. There鈥檚 no way you could deny that.鈥�
Eastwood admits that the prospect of casting nonactors didn鈥檛 thrill the executives at Warner Bros. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they were excited at the beginning,鈥� he said with a dry laugh.
But in a testament to the tremendous amount of clout Eastwood has at the studio 鈥� where his production company is based and where he has directed such films as Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper and Sully 鈥� they agreed to go along with the idea. There were some bumpy moments at first. In his first big scene, set in a Jamba Juice, Stone 鈥渇elt like I was crashing and burning.鈥� In another scene, Sadler, unaware of the need for continuity, kept picking up different things with his hands in different takes.
But things soon slipped into gear, and the studio was reassured that the experiment could work. 鈥淚 think 鈥� or at least I hope 鈥� that they were pleasantly surprised,鈥� Eastwood said.
The attack itself was re-created over five days on a moving train travelling back and forth between Paris and Amsterdam. Along with Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler, a number of other real-life participants were also on hand, including Mark Moogalian, who had sustained a gunshot injury to the neck, and English businessman Chris Norman, who had helped restrain the attacker with a necktie and some cable.
Though the actual attack lasted only about two minutes, Eastwood was intent on re-creating it with exacting, second-by-second fealty, with no extra Hollywood action-movie bells and whistles. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to make it look like guys were hanging from the bottom of a train and doing crazy things,鈥� Eastwood said. In his mind, what transpired in those two minutes was dramatic enough.
Moments after the attack had begun, Stone 鈥� who had been awakened from a nap by sounds of gunfire and screaming 鈥� ran straight at El Khazzani and took him down. In a stroke of luck, the attacker鈥檚 AK-47 had jammed and he had accidentally dropped the magazine from his pistol. (鈥淲e got the world鈥檚 worst terrorist,鈥� Skarlatos said dryly.)
In the ensuing struggle, Stone sustained gashes to his neck and thumb with a box cutter, putting El Khazzani in a chokehold as Skarlatos disarmed him and bashed him in the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking him unconscious. Drawing on his medical training, Stone then worked to stop the bleeding in Moogalian鈥檚 neck.
鈥淭hat was an intense flashback,鈥� said Stone of re-creating that moment onscreen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e wearing the same clothes. It鈥檚 Mark. It鈥檚 his wife. Everything was exactly the same.鈥�
Having had a taste of Hollywood, the three all now aim to pursue acting professionally. Stone has already moved to Los Angeles and Sadler is soon to follow. Acting classes have been taken. Agents and publicists have been retained.
鈥淚鈥檒l never forget 鈥� one day, between takes, Clint Eastwood looks at me and he鈥檚 like: 鈥楴ot a bad way to make a living, is it?鈥� 鈥� Sadler said. 鈥淚 was like: 鈥楴o, you鈥檙e right. It鈥檚 not a bad way to make a living.鈥� We鈥檇 all like to pursue it, for sure.鈥�
