Mel Gibson’s 2016 war epic wasn't just another "blood and guts" movie. It was a gamble. You've got a director coming out of a decade in the Hollywood wilderness, a British Spider-Man playing a Virginian pacifist, and a comedic giant trying to play a terrifying drill sergeant. People thought it would be a mess. Instead, the actors in Hacksaw Ridge delivered performances that turned a low-budget production—shot in just 59 days in Australia—into a six-time Oscar nominee.
Honestly, the casting is weirder than you remember.
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Take Andrew Garfield. He didn't just show up and read lines. He spent a full year prepping. He went on a silent retreat with Adam Driver in Wales. He obsessed over the real Desmond Doss, the Seventh-day Adventist who saved 75 men at Maeda Escarpment without ever touching a gun. Garfield actually tried to drag real bodies during filming to match Doss's reality. He realized quickly that he wasn't strong enough. He had to ask for wires. "This guy was filled with the strength of a thousand lions," Garfield later said. It makes you realize how much the film relies on that specific, wiry energy Garfield brings to the screen.
The Surprising Range of the Hacksaw Ridge Cast
When you look at the actors in Hacksaw Ridge, the standout for many wasn't the lead, but the supporting cast that grounded the madness. Vince Vaughn as Sergeant Howell is the biggest curveball. Most of us know him from Wedding Crashers, but here, he had to be the "barking dog" with a hidden soul.
Vaughn actually did a ton of research into the psychology of drill sergeants. He wanted to move past the stereotype of just being a mean guy with a loud voice. He saw Howell as someone who was genuinely terrified that Doss’s pacifism would get the rest of the boys killed. It’s a nuance that often gets lost in the noise of the explosions.
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Key Performances You Might Have Overlooked
- Hugo Weaving (Tom Doss): Most people know him as Agent Smith or Elrond. In this, he plays Desmond’s father, a broken WWI veteran dealing with what we now call PTSD. His performance is arguably the emotional anchor of the first hour. He’s terrifying and pathetic all at once.
- Sam Worthington (Captain Glover): He plays the rigid company commander. Worthington often gets flak for his "tough guy" roles, but here, his skepticism of Doss provides the necessary friction that makes the eventual payoff work.
- Teresa Palmer (Dorothy Schutte): She brings a necessary light to the Lynchburg scenes. Her chemistry with Garfield makes the stakes of the war feel personal rather than just political.
Why the Casting Almost Didn't Work
There was a lot of noise during production about the "Aussie-heavy" cast. Since the movie was filmed in New South Wales to save money, most of the "American" GIs are actually Australians. Luke Bracey (Smitty Ryker), Rachel Griffiths (Bertha Doss), and Richard Roxburgh (Colonel Stelzer) are all Aussie staples.
Some critics hated this. They claimed the accents were "stilted" or "mimicked." If you listen closely, you can hear some of the vowels slip, especially in the heat of the battle scenes. But does it matter? The raw intensity usually papers over the cracks.
The Reality of the "Human Shield" Scene
One of the most debated moments involves an actor named Firass Dirani, who plays Vito Rinnelli. There’s a shot where a soldier uses a torso as a shield while firing a machine gun. It looks like "Hollywood" nonsense.
Surprisingly, Mel Gibson claimed he actually toned down some of the real-life heroics of Desmond Doss because he thought the audience wouldn't believe them. The actors had to balance this line between being "superheroes" and being terrified kids in a meat grinder.
Behind the Scenes Training
The actors didn't just hang out in trailers. Gibson put them through a grueling boot camp. They had to learn how to handle period-accurate weaponry, move in formation, and—most importantly for the medics—perform "field surgery" in the mud.
Damian Tomlinson, an actual Afghanistan veteran who lost his legs in battle, played the soldier whose legs are blown off on screen. Having a real veteran on set changed the vibe. Garfield mentioned it was a "profound" day of filming, where the line between making a movie and honoring real trauma completely vanished.
Awards and Recognition for the Cast
The film didn't just win over audiences; it cleared the shelves during awards season.
- Andrew Garfield: Received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He won the AACTA Award for Best Actor and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in an Action Movie.
- Hugo Weaving: Won the AACTA for Best Supporting Actor.
- Stunt Ensemble: Won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture. This is huge because the "actors" in the background—the stuntmen—were literally set on fire using a special gel that allowed them to be engulfed in flames for longer than usual.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Filmmakers
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of the actors in Hacksaw Ridge, don't just stop at the movie.
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- Watch the Documentary: Check out The Conscientious Objector (2004). It was directed by Terry Benedict, who also produced the feature film. You’ll see the real Desmond Doss and realize how accurately Garfield captured his "doe-eyed" but firm spirit.
- Look for the "Aussie" Connection: Re-watch the film and try to spot the Australian actors. It’s a masterclass in how to use a specific location to build a world that looks like Virginia and Okinawa without ever leaving the Southern Hemisphere.
- Study the Sound: The film won the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing. Pay attention to how the actors' voices are layered against the artillery. It’s one of the few war movies where you can actually "feel" the proximity of the actors to the chaos.
The legacy of these performances isn't just in the trophies. It's in the way they handled a story that could have easily become "preachy." By keeping the characters human—flawed, angry, and sometimes even "dopey"—the cast made Doss’s impossible bravery feel like something that might actually have happened. Because it did.