Dead Eyes

Dead Eyes is a serialized personal nonfiction investigational podcast series created by actor and comedian Connor Ratliff. In 2000, Ratliff was cast in the role of Private John Zielinski on the HBO television series Band of Brothers and was set to begin filming when he was subsequently fired, allegedly because series co-creator Tom Hanks believed Ratliff had "dead eyes." In 2020, Ratliff set out to "solve the very stupid mystery" of why he was fired, and to more generally explore the concept of rejection in the entertainment industry. The podcast gained significant media attention in March 2022 when, for its season 3 finale, Ratliff finally interviewed Hanks.