Tom Hanks’ exasperation with being Hollywood’s ‘Mr Nice Guy’
There are some actors who just charm the general public, and with every appearance on a talk show or a red-carpet interview, people seem to like them more and more. Perhaps it’s because they just seem genuinely lovely, or it’s because they have a unique sense of humour that makes them feel relatable and down-to-earth in an industry that seems unreachable.
Tom Hanks has often been brandished with a ‘nice guy’ label, which is down to a multitude of reasons. One of the most significant is, of course, the fact that he has starred as many iconic and loveable characters over the years. One of his earliest roles was in Big as a child trapped in an adult’s body, a character that helped to put him on the cinematic map. He charmed many viewers with his performance, and he subsequently went on to appear in many more family-friendly and loveable roles.
Forrest Gump is arguably the movie that cemented his status as a Hollywood icon and an enduring figure of American cinema. He played the kind-hearted titular character to great acclaim, earning an Academy Award as a result. From there, he landed more popular roles, becoming the voice of many people’s childhoods after taking on the part of Woody in the beloved animated movie series Toy Story.
Additionally, Hanks has never been involved in any major scandals and has been an active endorser of certain charities. Hanks has often been praised for being the ideal American actor, a coveted household name who doesn’t cause offence or star in anything too isolating or experimental. He has remained big in the mainstream for years as a result, although Hanks isn’t as happy with his ‘nice guy’ label as you might assume.
In conversation with the Guardian, he explained how he doesn’t like it when people box him into one specific ‘nice guy’ category, believing that it diminishes his craft as an actor. “You know, the thing I don’t like is that it communicates the idea that I’m not working very hard. That it’s easy. When they say ‘Oh, he’s such a nice guy, it’s such a nice movie and he’s so likeable’ that somehow means that I’m not a professional, that I don’t agonise over all of these things that I do,” Hanks said.
“And I do. I mean, my life is just as complicated as anybody’s, and sometimes it’s hard to come to work in order to forage out this kind of stuff. We don’t kind of show up and blithely go lalalalala, then go skipping off to the bistro for spaghetti and coffee afterwards,” he added. Hanks wants people to know that just because he might come across a certain way, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t dedicate himself to his work entirely.
“I’m just as much of a taskmaster and a perfectionist as other people are. But I think I’m also a pleasant individual, and I think I’m a gentleman,” he asserted. Hanks might have the nice guy image nailed, but that’s because he’s a great actor, after all.
He knows when to turn on the charm to hide his stress and maintain his loveable persona, which isn’t a false representation of himself – merely one that prioritises the best sides of him.
