“I wrestle with authenticity”: the movie that saw Tom Hanks give everything
When it comes to acting performances, how does one accurately quantify whether an artist has left everything out there? Is it from the crazy method acting stories that make the rounds in the lead-up to a movie’s release, or do the viral social media edits that are mass-produced afterwards serve as evidence of an actor’s complete commitment to the bit?
For Tom Hanks, these metrics are oriented in a completely different direction, which is probably one of the reasons why he has made it to the top of the industry. Having worked with auteurs such as Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Demme, and many more, Hanks’ approach to acting is rooted in understanding what the text has to say and how the director envisions the materialisation of that screenplay.
During an appearance on The Great Creators with Guy Raz podcast, Hanks revealed that he often has a difficult time rewatching his own movies due to the self-awareness about his performances. According to the Oscar-winning Hollywood star, the knowledge that he didn’t give a role his all makes it hard to sit through, despite the fact that almost all of his filmography is widely beloved.
“I wrestle with authenticity,” Hanks explained. “I wrestle with the difference between lying for a living as an actor and lying to myself as a human being…. (I see) the falsehood in them. I see the loss. I see that one time, ‘Oh man, I missed that opportunity.’ And it’s not because, at the moment, I chose not to – it’s because, after it was done, I realised I didn’t go far enough. I didn’t go to the place that I could have gone. Then I asked myself, well, why? Was it because I was satisfied with what I had?”
For fans who are now wondering which films he’s talking about, it’s difficult to weed them out because not only has he reliably delivered acclaimed performances, but he also holds himself to an impeccably high standard. However, there’s one particular project that even he considers to be among his best, one where he gave everything he had.
That is none other than Robert Zemeckis’ iconic 1994 comedy Forrest Gump, which handed Hanks one of the defining roles of his career. According to the actor, the reason why he feels secure in telling people that Forrest Gump brought out the best in him is because every minuscule portion of the material was covered in detail in discussions between Zemeckis and Hanks.
The actor added: “We all sat together for weeks with (director Robert Zemeckis), and Bob was saying, ‘Well, what do we make of that?’ We started at the beginning of the script, and we all talked about everything. Even scenes we’re not in, and what it meant to the text. That doesn’t mean your own lines. You must know the text, because the text is the interpretation of the theme, and the theme is why you’re all there in the first place.”
Although the sense of humour that runs through Forrest Gump is considered by many to have aged poorly, it remains a cornerstone of Hanks’ filmography that is still religiously rewatched by fans all over the world.
