Tom Hanks names his most challenging role: “The hardest work that is to be done”
During the 1990s, Hollywood couldn’t get enough of Tom Hanks. He appeared in countless hits and even won ‘Best Actor’ at the Oscars two years in a row, firstly for Philadelphia and then for the unprecedented mega-hit Forrest Gump. It goes without saying that Hanks became insanely popular, often playing the everyman who was placed in extraordinary situations, and his presence was simply unavoidable.
While Hanks has appeared in many light-hearted movies, like Toy Story, Big, Turner & Hooch, and The Polar Express, he has also never backed away from the chance to be part of something more challenging. This is exactly why he became so beloved – Hanks morphed into a kindhearted, intellectually challenged man for Forrest Gump while he played the strong leader of a group of soldiers in Saving Private Ryan, proving his ability to take on various difficult parts.
He has always been drawn to movies that contain strong moral messages, even if his role forces him to challenge everything he knows about acting. You might think of the aforementioned roles as challenging Hanks more than any, or maybe Road to Perdition or Apollo 13, but it is actually something much more unsuspecting.
In a 2013 interview with The New York Times, Hanks revealed that he was “dry-mouthed” when he accepted the role of Walt Disney in the film Saving Mr Banks. Directed by John Lee Hancock, the film also starred Emma Thompson as Pamela ‘P. L.’ Travers, who penned the Mary Poppins books. The movie charts Travers’ childhood, which shaped her approach to writing beloved novels before depicting the process of these stories becoming the subject of Disney’s film.
The movie grossed $117million against a budget of $35m, becoming a considerable success. Still, that didn’t mean that Hanks wasn’t terrified to try and embody the famous filmmaker, who practically ran Hollywood with his charming animations and hugely successful company. While he has long been idolised, Saving Mr Banks portrays a slightly more flawed version of Disney, who found himself clashing with Travers.
The actor said, “I was immediately dry-mouthed by the prospect. It’s just the hardest work that is to be done. There’s a billion hours of video, of Walt performing as Walt Disney, being a great guy. But I found enough actual footage of him in interviews when he’d really like to be done with the subject.”
Hanks continued, “When he doesn’t want to talk about Fantasia again, because what he’s really here to do is show you the new animatronic birds that are going to be going into the Enchanted Tiki Room. When I could find him showing any legitimate kind of consternation, that was worth its weight in gold.”
It seems as though Hanks found it daunting having to play such a famous person, ensuring that he brought him to life accurately enough without seeming like a mere caricature. It wasn’t the first time Hanks had played a pre-existing person, like Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 or Charlie Wilson in Charlie Wilson’s War, but it was the first time he’d played someone so well known.
Hanks was praised for his performance, however, so he needn’t have worried so much about stepping into Disney’s shoes.
