In Wolfgang Petersen’s colossal epic “Troy”, Garrett Hedlund is Patroclus acting alongside Brad Pitt. The young Garrett (19 years old, first film), grew up on a farm. “In Minesotta”, he affirms “when you were 8-9 years old, there was nothing better than to come home from school and drive the tractor round the farm.” After barely receiving his high-school diploma, he jumped on an airplane to Los Angeles in time for the auditions of a television station. Surprisingly, a scout for “Troy” immediately signed him up. “Destiny.” he comments. “As a result, I found myself working with one of the best-known actors of the moment. We worked in Malta, in London and Mexico. Petersen, Brad and all the cast, and even Peter o’Toole, were very gentle and patient with a newbie like me. I see the future of my career as something unforeseen and fantastic, like this film.”

As one of only three female stars in a cast that includes The Lord of the Rings’ Orlando Bloom and The Hulk’s Eric Bana, Byrne couldn’t keep away from the warfare taking place on- and off-camera: “Garrett [Hedlund, who plays Achilles’ kinsman Patroclus] put bacon in air conditioners,” says Byrne. “People would come back to their hotel rooms and find all the furniture was gone.” The levity was a much-appreciated distraction from the grim set, where Byrne was typically preparing “for a scene where I’m watching someone get killed, or running from a burning city,” she says. “All the stakes were life or death—or just death, really. There’s not much comedy in the Greeks.”

Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004
Former Roseau area man lands role in blockbuster ‘Troy’

Pretty good company for an actor in his first movie. Not bad for a young man who grew up in the Roseau and Strandquist, Minn., area.
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When word spread last year that Garrett Hedlund, 19 years old and fresh from Minnesota, had arrived in Los Angeles and scored a role in the colossal epic Troy on his first audition, movie insiders were abuzz: Who is this guy?
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