‘The Love Boat’: The one role Tom Hanks doesn’t want to be remembered for
As any actor worth their salt knows, making good movies and good TV shows is extremely difficult. So many factors are out of their control in any production that it would be impossible to have a faultless CV – and sometimes, they drop the ball with the aspects that are in their power, too. This is why most stars have at least a handful of duds on their filmographies, and some even have embarrassing projects they wish people would forget about. When Tom Hanks was asked if there was a role he didn’t want to be remembered for, though, he initially fought the question – before admitting there was indeed one he wasn’t too fond of.
Casting an eye over Hanks’ career reveals an overwhelming majority of good to great movies, which is no small feat. The man has starred in stone-cold classics like Big, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story, Cast Away, Sleepless in Seattle, and Saving Private Ryan, and even his more middling efforts are generally entertaining watches. However, he isn’t beyond reproach and can point to some misfires amid all the hits. His recent efforts with longtime collaborator Robert Zemeckis – Pinocchio and Here – haven’t exactly set the world on fire, while 2017’s The Circle was widely derided. He was also a part of one of the most notorious bombs of the ’90s: Brian De Palma’s The Bonfire of the Vanities.
However, none of these regrettable efforts is the role Hanks singled out when he was asked the question on an episode of YouTube’s Mythical Kitchen. Interestingly, though, when first asked, “What is the one role you’d least like to be remembered for?” Hanks took umbrage with the question. He replied, “Every one of these movies are made in the greatest faith imaginable. Everybody is working really hard. So, to slag on any of them is to insult the communal effort that we all put in.”
This response is a perfect example of why Hanks is considered one of the most likeable people in Hollywood. Obviously, he cares deeply about the blood, sweat, and tears that go into making movies from every department and is reticent to dump on anything after the fact. He also makes a great point that no one goes into a project trying to make something bad, so that’s another reason he’s loathe to criticise anything he’s been involved in too harshly.
However, when the hosts pushed him, he did finally give them a reluctant answer. With a wry smile, Hanks confessed, “Throw up the circular from me on The Love Boat. My head in the circle, I did a Love Boat in June of 1980.”
That’s right – to find a role he’d rather forget, Hanks had to go all the way back to his first appearance on television. He starred in the fourth season premiere of ABC’s beloved romantic comedy as Rick Martin, a fraternity brother of primary cast member Burl ‘Gopher’ Smith.
While Hanks’ career may have gone on to much bigger and better things than a guest spot on a frothy sitcom, and that’s why he chose the role of Martin at a push, he hasn’t always been so critical of the part that gave him a foothold in the business. In 2019, he told Variety, “I drove through the main gates of 20th Century Fox where the set from Hello, Dolly was still up, and I went on stage 24 or 19 or something like that, and I was on the freaking Love Boat. When it aired that night, I can’t tell you what it meant to my world.”
Heartwarmingly, Hanks revealed he received a phone call from his fifth-grade schoolteacher, who exclaimed, “I can’t believe my eyes. Tom, you’re on The Love Boat.” So, even if Hanks now feels comfortable with people not knowing he was in the show, his teacher will always think it was a huge deal.
