Eastwood casts real-life heroes in train attack film

The acclaimed director’s new film will be titled The 15:17 To Paris and will tell the story of the three California friends who stopped an alleged attacker on a train in 2016.

Alek Skarlatos, Spencer Stone and Anthony Sadler will play themselves, in a move rarely seen in a big-budget film.

The three men are non-actors and will be joined by a relatively unknown cast, a strategy adopted by Eastwood in past films such as Gran Torino and Jersey Boys.

According to Variety, Eastwood and the studio started off looking for professional stars to cast for the roles, but eventually changed their minds and decided on the real men.

The film will be based on a book written by Sadler, Skarlatos and Stone, and will be produced by Warner Bros.

Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer, and Ray Corasani will also star.

The three men were awarded the legion of honour medals in France after the incident. They were also offered an audience with the then US president Barack Obama.

Eastwood awarded the trio himself last year at Spike TV’s Annual Guy Choice Awards.

This is another chapter in Eastwood’s recent string of real-life inspired films, which include Bradley Cooper’s American Sniper and Tom Hanks’ Sully.