Adam Goldberg reflects on his “impactful” death scene in ‘Saving Private Ryan’
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(Credits: Far Out / CBS)
In a recent interview with Far Out, Adam Goldberg discussed the “emotional” impact of his death scene in Saving Private Ryan.
Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film is an unforgettable piece of cinema. Showing the brutalities of war, the filmmaker made one of Hollywood’s greatest depictions of battle, reminding viewers that behind each soldier is a real human who will be forever destroyed by their experiences. If you were to ask someone about the most memorable scene from the movie, most would answer: the death of Private Mellish, played by Goldberg.
The scene is full of genuine fear, with Spielberg focusing on the terrified reaction on Mellish’s face as he accepts that he is about to die at the hands of a ruthless German soldier. He pleads and repeats “Stop! No!” but it’s too late. He is slowly stabbed to death while Corporal Upham watches on from the stairwell, too scared to do anything to intervene.
While some viewers sympathise with Upham for being too fearful to prevent Mellish’s death – despite having a gun and the ability to speak German – others see him as nothing more than a coward, shamefully letting his friend get painfully murdered.
Goldberg admitted to Far Out that he actually doesn’t “really love my performance” in Saving Private Ryan, but regardless, “it was hugely impactful for me personally.” He added, “And then, just the making of that movie.”
The actor continued: “And then, of course, the resonance that it had, particularly at the time, with the veterans that it affected. It was an incredibly powerful experience, and I won’t ever have that experience again.”
While Goldberg has appeared in many other movies and television shows, he is arguably most recognisable as Mellish. “People will have very emotional reactions. Whether they stop me in the street or whether it’s knowing them for three weeks and they say, ‘Hey, by the way, I gotta tell you that scene in Saving Private Ryan when you get stabbed, it still haunts me’.”
He continued, “And I would say that it’s got to be the most impactful thing I’ve ever done in terms of my experience, in terms of feedback to a performance, in terms of sheer straight-up recognition.”
Goldberg can currently be seen in the crime series The Equalizer playing Harry Keshegian alongside actors like Queen Latifah, Liza Lapira, and Tory Kittles.
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