Sick over Flags role

Going to war:  Saulteaux Indian Adam Beach fought hard for "Flags" roleBeach, a member of the Saulteaux tribe, wanted to play the tragic American Indian Ira Hayes, one of the six men seen in what became history's most reproduced photograph.

Word got back to Beach. No go. Eastwood wanted to cast age-appropriate actors and the 33-year-old Beach was a good decade too old.

"I thought, 'That's a bum rap,' " Beach says. "Then a few weeks before the shoot, I'm coming out of a bout with the flu and I'm not answering my phone. I get a message. 'You better call Clint Eastwood.' So I did. 'Put yourself on tape.' I made a tape and sent it in. And I think because I was coming out of the flu, it gave me such a tortured feeling that Eastwood couldn't resist. 'Whoa, this guy looks terrible. He's perfect.' "