Missed opportunity: the huge role that Tom Hanks turned down
During the 1990s, Tom Hanks practically dominated cinemas with his presence, starring in everything from Toy Story to Saving Private Ryan and Sleepless in Seattle. Despite his ability to appear across a range of genres, Hanks was always recognisable, typically playing heroic and ‘good guy’ characters.
Everyone seemed to love Tom Hanks, who has become a symbol of many people’s childhoods. However, his career might have taken a different path if he hadn’t taken on one specific role: Forrest Gump. Hanks starred in the Robert Zemeckis film in 1994, earning his second Oscar following his win for Philadelphia.
During this time, Hanks was becoming increasingly popular in Hollywood, having starred in various acclaimed movies in the preceding years, such as Big and A League of Their Own. However, it was Forrest Gump that truly catapulted him to international stardom. The film was incredibly successful, winning six Academy Awards, including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, and, unsurprisingly, ‘Best Actor’ for Hanks.
Cementing his legendary status by taking home ‘Best Actor’ two years in a row, Hanks ascended to the top of the Hollywood ranks. Playing the loveable Forrest Gump, people admired the empathy, humour and emotion he brought to the character. It’s hard to picture anyone else playing the protagonist, but Hanks wasn’t even the first choice – that was John Travolta.
Luckily for Hanks, several other actors, like Sean Penn, turned the movie down, allowing him to accept the role and truly embody the character of Forrest. Yet, Hanks was offered another role at the same time, and he had to choose between them. The actor was asked if he’d like to play the main character, Andy Dufresne, in The Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont.
The movie is now regarded as one of the greatest pictures of the 1990s, with many people citing the ending as one of the most emotional moments in cinema history. However, the project struggled to compete against Forrest Gump upon its release, with people clearly more attracted to the story of a kind-natured man with an incredible life rather than a prison drama. Therefore, Hanks is most likely relieved that he turned The Shawshank Redemption down rather than Forrest Gump because the latter allowed him to become one of the richest and most in-demand stars in the industry.
In the end, Tim Robbins played Andy, giving a great performance. While the film was highly praised and is now considered a classic, it just couldn’t compete with the other movies released at the same time, which also included Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino’s hit indie drama, which raked in $213million compared to Shawshank’s $73m.
Some people considered Darabont’s film a box office bomb since its profits weren’t very high. Thus, if Hanks had taken on the lead role instead of opting for Forrest Gump, the second-highest-grossing movie of the year, his career trajectory might’ve looked slightly different. Thanks to Forrest Gump, which helped to secure the actor loads more accolades, he quickly landed starring roles in movies like Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile and That Thing You Do!, which Hanks was allowed to direct himself.
