(l to r) Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone, Kelli Gillespie, and Anthony Sadler
They’ve been friends since junior high, but there was no way U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Spencer Stone, Oregon National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler could have known that how important their bond would need to be in the summer of 2015.
The trio was taking a reunion trip in Europe and early one August evening the three young Americans prevented a terrorist attack on Thalys train #9364 bound for Paris allowing them to save the lives of the more than 500 passengers on board. It’s an unreal story that started long before the incident and attracted the attention of Director Clint Eastwood, who not only decided to bring it to the big screen, but asked Stone, Skarlatos and Sadler to play themselves in the movie The 15:17 to Paris. The film follows the course of the friends’ lives, from the struggles of childhood through finding their footing in life, to the series of unlikely events leading up to thwarting the attack.
Family Entourage sat down with the trio to talk about family, being raised by single parents, developing character and conquering fears.
Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ “THE 15:17 TO PARIS.”
Family Entourage: As a parent, I’m always interested in how parents impact decisions their child make, positive or negative. Alek, you and Spencer were raised primarily by single moms with a fairly challenging childhood. Looking back what do you think your moms instilled in you to raise you to become men of strong character?
Alek Skarlatos: That might be a leap [Laughter] but I would just say that our mothers always cared and tried. They didn’t always necessarily make the right choices, but they were always trying. I mean as a kid, you always, without even knowing it, appreciate that your parents try. We appreciated the structure that they were able to give us even only being single mothers. And I just think they did a good job raising us and watching out for our morals to make sure they stayed intact as long as they could. I really do think our families shaped who we are today for better or for worse.
Spencer Stone: I fully credit my mom to who I am today. I was a rough kid to raise. I just didn’t listen. She really sacrificed a lot throughout her life to give me, and my brother and sister, a good life. She gave up things that she could of been happy doing to make sure that we had better opportunities and would make better decisions. I just can’t thank her enough. Throughout my life, coming up to the point where I wanted to do something crazy, I also wanted to make her proud. I didn’t want her to feel like she worked her a** off for the last 20 something years for nothing. I just wanted to make her proud.
FE: Anthony, what characteristics of your parents do you see in yourself now?
Anthony Sadler: My dad raised me. For like half of our lives he was a single parent. It’s a different aspect than a mother raising boys. I had my dad so I think I was extremely lucky in having a direct role model right in front of me every day. My dad is a person of high character and he’s always telling me to do my best no matter what. Actually, funny enough, the last thing he told me before I left [on our trip] was no matter where you guys go in Europe, just make sure you have each other’s back. It’s funny that he had that kind of insight to say something like that because he never suspected, or obviously us either, that we would literally need to have each other’s backs. I just appreciate him for being who he is. And being there, really, because that’s not really the narrative. There aren’t many single dads out there.
(L-R) Director/producer Clint Eastwood and Alek Skarlatos on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures’ “THE 15:17 TO PARIS.”
FE: A universal theme from your early childhood is this idea of how to deal with disappointment. Whether is having to move away from a best friend, or work really hard for a career only to be told you can’t do it, or something more simple like letting your parents down when they believed in you… how were you each able to face and conquer disappointment or missed expectations in life?
Spencer: Honestly, I felt like until the train attack I didn’t deal with my disappointment well. I always really wished that I could still do the para rescue thing or something along those lines. I felt angry in a way because I felt like that was what I wanted and I couldn’t have it because of something out of my control. I thought the whole reason I joined the Air Force was to do para rescue and if I couldn’t do that, then why am I going to stay? What will I do next? I don’t know. Technically I was happy, I guess, with the job I ended up with.
Anthony: I felt the same way, but not angry, more like just unfulfilled. We were doing things. I was going into my senior year of college. But I was like, I only have a year left. I’m in a major I like, but I can’t see myself doing it for maybe 30-40 years. I was kind of in limbo. Asking, Where is my life really going? I had been kind of using school as a crutch. But once that ends, I have to go out there and do something.
Alek: That’s probably the same thing with me. I joined the military because I was kind of disappointed in myself after I graduated high school. I was not giving college my all and therefore not doing so well. I just kind of wanted to do something different with my life and try to be a better person. That’s why I joined the military and obviously, I was interested in it. I guess I would just say that whenever I was disappointed I would try to change the situation I was in. If I got too chubby, I worked out. If I thought I was dumb, I would try to learn something new. You just always try to change your situation and try to improve it. If I wanted something changed, I have to do it myself. You can’t count on anyone.
Spencer: Well that’s one thing about it. I almost view the terrorist attack as a huge blessing, not necessarily because of the movie, or all the fame that comes from it because I don’t really care about that. I think that it’s the perspective it gave us to go through life now and we have so much more life to live. It’s exciting that we’ll be able to live the rest of our lives with that wisdom.
Anthony: It’s so priceless that at twenty-five years old you can almost know for certain that you’re on the path that God has for you. That doesn’t always happen. It’s kind of a feeling of contentment – not complacent, because we know that tomorrow things could change for us because the last two years have been a whirlwind. We’re just along for the ride.
The 15:17 to Paris opens nationwide on Friday, February 9
