‘Nothing In Common’: The movie that taught Tom Hanks how to be an actor
Having reigned as one of the most consistent and popular stars in the industry for 35 years and counting, there are now multiple generations who only know Tom Hanks as an A-list mainstay and the actor dubbed as ‘America’s Dad’.
The success of Ron Howard’s Splash in 1984 in what was just his second-ever credit in a feature film highlighted that Hanks was a name destined to achieve big things, but it wasn’t until Big landed him the first Academy Award nomination of his career that he first took up residency as a household name the world over.
From there, Hanks would segue out of the comedic stylings that defined his initial rise to prominence, cementing that transition with back-to-back Oscar wins in the ‘Best Actor’ category for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. These days, his mere involvement is more than enough to convince audiences to check out his latest project, but it was an unlikely movie that opened his eyes to the nuances of his profession.
Garry Marshall’s 1986 dramedy Nothing In Common is rarely celebrated as one of Hanks’ definitive films, but co-starring with Jackie Gleason – in what proved to be his final big screen role – and Eva Marie Saint served as the most important learning curve of his career at that point.
Anointing it as “the one that I really think I learned the most from,” the production marked the first major dramatic part Hanks had played. As a result, he described it as “the first time that I actually felt as though, oh wait a minute, there’s other stuff I have to do in order to make this happen.” No only that, but he “was very involved in the process” due to his familiarity with Marshall, which would eventually parlay into his secondary line of creative work as a producer, writer, and director.
During an interview with Buzzfeed alongside Steven Spielberg, the regular collaborators ended up discussing Nothing In Common when Hanks called it his “first dramatic role”. Knowing that it could potentially mark a shift in his public perception, the star was thrilled to be exploring new territory.
Reflecting on how “that was like my fifth or sixth movie,” Hanks recognized that his big screen outings up until then had been “trying to play to the success you just had”. On the other hand, when it came to Nothing In Common, “Garry wanted somebody that could be funny when we needed to be funny.”
Instead of relying solely on his comedic abilities, the film saw Hanks mine dramatic depths that he’d never tapped into on-screen while becoming hands-on in the development, creation, and ultimately execution of his character, which turned out to be a pivotal learning experience that would inform his career from then on out.
