Stephen Siller

Actor John Turturro hosts award-winning documentary

FOR THE LOVE OF THEIR BROTHER tells the story of six orphaned siblings who lost their brother Stephen on September 11, 2001. The off-duty fireman lost his life that day in a heroic attempt to save others. This program focuses on the tribute that his siblings have chosen to keep his memory alive, founding the “Tunnel to Towers Run.” The run retraces Stephen's route that day, as he ran the one-and-a-half mile distance through the blocked Brooklyn Battery Bridge to the World Trade Center, reaching Tower Two moments before it collapsed.

Soon after the tragedy, actor and New Yorker John Turturro, best known for his work in films such as Raging Bull, The Color of Money, Do the Right Thing, and Clockers, became involved with the Siller family and agreed to host the program. In this brief chat with APT, he shares some of his thoughts on this compelling documentary that has already won three Aurora Awards and four Telly Awards.

Q: I watched the film FOR THE LOVE OF OUR BROTHER and was very moved by the love the Siller siblings have for their brother Stephen. Tell me, how did you get involved with the Siller family and this film?

A: Russ Siller was my younger brother Nicholas’s English teacher in high school and directed him in a couple of plays including Guys & Dolls and he was a good influence on Nicholas. We became friends with him. We stayed in touch over the years.

I saw the name Siller when I went to give money a day or two after [911] and I asked Nicholas if that was his brother. So we got in contact and talked and exchanged different things. Then I got involved from there.

Q: So when did you get involved with the film specifically?

A: Not that long ago. They [the Siller siblings] asked me if I would be willing to do it and I said if ‘I’m available, yes I would.’ I had other friends who died from my Mom’s community. Everybody is affected by [911], so you do what you can do. Obviously, they are a really close family. It’s kind of enviable in some ways because I see them and I say ‘wow.’ You can see the mark [Stephen’s death] has left on all of them in their faces and everything. But they have each other and they are really involved in each other’s lives. Nowadays, in a world that’s as separate as it is and you don’t live in a little village all together, it’s rare to see.

Q: This September it will be four years since the Towers fell – do you think a film like this one will still resonate with audiences? Why is it important to continue to tell stories like Stephen's?

A: Oh, yeah. Are you kidding? You just talk about it and it resonates with you. If you live through it and you live in this city, you have a very different perspective of it. You never feel like, ‘well that’s just never going to happen.’ You feel like, ‘well it happened and they tried to do it once before that.’ It becomes a fabric of your life. But you still got to go on. Without a doubt, it will resonate with people. As a matter of fact, if you try to do things too soon, it’s hard to digest. There are a million stories. Just like in the War – everyone has a story. And this was a very particular one. [The Sillers] have really made it their business to not have their brother be forgotten. It’s very admirable, courageous and painful for them. Being an outsider– I have tried to be there and tried to just do it with as much humility and simplicity as possible. There’s no room for theatrics or histrionics. [911] affected me and affected my friends. It continues to affect me – this is where I grew up.