While Jimmy Fallon was still a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” he began booking acting roles. Among these was a brief cameo in HBO’s World War II miniseries “Band of Brothers.” During an episode of “The Tonight Show,” he recalled that his inability to drive nearly wrecked the whole thing.
“That episode was directed by Tom Hanks, and I was so nervous,” Fallon said, as recounted by Parade. “I had to just drive a jeep and say my line, ‘Good luck, boys.'” One big complication, however, was the fact that Fallon was tasked with driving a vintage WWII jeep, with a standard transmission. “I don’t know how to drive,” Fallon explained. “And I just say my line, and I’m supposed to look really heroic.”
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Try as he could, Fallon couldn’t get the vehicle to move. As a result, Hanks enlisted a couple of crew members to push the jeep while Fallon was filmed reciting his line. “So I’m so nervous,” he admitted. “There’s like 200 extras. So I drive, I hit my spot. I go, ‘Good luck, boys,’ and I forget to press the clutch, and these two dudes are pushing the car, and the wheels aren’t moving because the clutch isn’t in.” Somehow, the moment was captured by the camera, although just barely. “I don’t know how they made it work,” he added, “but they made it work.”
