“Platoon” was shot in the Philippines, where the production was threatened by political revolution. The actors were a long way from home, and though Dafoe and Berenger later received dual Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor — and they had men answering to them like real sergeants on the “Platoon” set — they were not immune to the hardships of the jungle. John C. McGinley, who played their fellow sergeant, O’Neill, told The Guardian:
“Willem drank water from a river when there was a decomposing oxen downstream and he got medivacked, Tom dropped a knife in his f****** foot – it was just all getting terribly real. And there were snakes. Two weeks earlier, we were running around New York’s West Village having coffee, bagels and talking about ‘Hamlet.’ Now we’re in the jungle with bamboo vipers.”
One can only imagine the insurance nightmare that a movie like “Platoon” might have caused, but at least Dafoe had the medevac there and was able to get to the choppa in time, unlike his doomed character, Sergeant Elias.
“Platoon” certainly isn’t the last time we would hear stories of actors running into trouble in the jungle while shooting Vietnam War scenes. Mykelti Williamson, for instance, was also a snake magnet on the set of “Forrest Gump.” However, when the closing credits roll on “Platoon,” and the words, “Dedicated to the men who fought and died in the Vietnam War” come up — and you see each actor’s face onscreen along with his name — it’s clear that Stone, a real Vietnam veteran, had them running around in the jungle in service of an authentic vision of a band of brothers.