The Martin Scorsese movie Tom Hanks called “one of the most amazing films I’ve ever seen”
As one of Hollywood’s most celebrated acting talents, Tom Hanks has no trouble finding work. Since the late 1980s, when he broke out with roles in Ron Howard’s Splash and Penny Marshall’s Big, he has grown from strength to strength, scooping two Academy Awards back-to-back for roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump and entering into a comfortable stream of blockbusters with top-flight directors.
Since the 1990s, Hanks has worked under the direction of all-time greats, including Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Robert Zemeckis, The Wachowskis, Wes Anderson and the Coen Brothers. Accordingly, he has very few regrets in terms of collaboration. However, with 2001: A Space Odyssey being one of his favourite movies of all time, he laments having missed out on the opportunity to work with Stanley Kubrick.
After Hanks’ rise to eminence in the early 1990s, Kubrick only released one final movie before his death, Eyes Wide Shut. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman deemed themselves extremely lucky to work with the filmmaking legend on his final film, understanding the exclusivity of the opportunity. Hanks was considered for Cruise’s role alongside Woody Allen, Bill Murray, and Steve Martin, but sadly, he fell short of the mark.
As they say, there’s no point in crying over spilt milk. One high-profile collaboration that Hanks has yet to tick off his list is one with Martin Scorsese. Since releasing his early magnum opus Taxi Driver in 1975, the director has delivered a stream of acclaimed movies, nurturing the eminence of top-flight actors like Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis.
It appears that no actors are out of Scorsese’s reach, although Hanks has proved difficult to pin down. Scorsese allegedly sought Hanks to play the lead role in his 2002 movie Gangs of New York. Hanks, a huge Scorses fan, regretfully declined as he was already signed up to star in Sam Mendes’ classic thriller Road to Perdition.
Subsequently, the pair, who are close despite a lack of collaboration, reportedly linked up to discuss a Dean Martin biopic. Sadly, this project fell through, and the clock continues to tick as movie fans await the first Scorsese-Hans collaboration.
Speaking to Oprah in 2001, at around the time Scorsese approached him for Gangs of New York, Hanks discussed his attachment to cinema. He revealed that as a moviegoer, he has always been drawn in by movies with a strong moral centre. “The reason most of us go to the movies is to be involved in someone else’s moral dilemma,” he said.
Continuing, the actor exemplified his point by picking out two classics from two of his all-time favourite directors. He first commended the way Scorsese framed a moral centre in Taxi Driver, “which is one of the most amazing films I’ve ever seen.” Then he gave a nod to Kubrick for his early historical drama, Spartacus. “There’s something happening on the screen that is bigger than the lives we lead, but that is still recognizable to a 14-year-old in Oakland,” he added.
