Wes Anderson reveals how he convinced Tom Hanks to be in ‘Asteroid City’
Wes Anderson has recently completed his work on his latest film, Asteroid City. Among some of the major stars that were on the cast list, the director has revealed how he convinced Tom Hanks to sign onto the film.
When talking about his process, Anderson broke down how easy it was to get Hanks, recalling to IndieWire, “It was pretty simple: I wrote him, said I had this, and asked him to read it. He wrote me back and said, ‘When are the dates?’ He’s the kind of person where he’s going to make everything work better and more smoothly”.
Anderson would go on to say that his draw towards Hanks for a part in the film came from his reputation for playing roles in films set in 20th-century America. Hanks’ previous roles have included the likes of Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan.
The famed director also went out of his way to praise Hanks’s status as a living legend of cinema, going on to say, “By the time I had the chance to work with Tom Hanks on this movie, he had crossed a sort of threshold into being more iconic. He’s a full-on icon now. He expanded over the years”.
Some of the other members of the cast include Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, and Jason Schwartzman. While work has finished on the project, Anderson is also set to begin work on his next movie this fall, starring Michael Cera in a key role.
Aside from Hanks working on the film, the actor also had members of his family contributing to the film as well, with Anderson recalling, “Rita, his wife, came with him and she’s in the movie. And on top of that, they have a son who works on our movies too now, and stayed on with us after Asteroid City”.
After his work on the Anderson picture, Hanks is also set to star in the 2024 Robert Zemeckis film Here alongside Robin Wright and Paul Bettany. This will be the first time Hanks has worked with Zemeckis since the live-action reimagining of Disney’s Pinocchio.
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