feature: The life of Tom Hanks… so far
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Image by Josh Jensen
Tom Hanks was recently dubbed the $6 billion dollar man, as that’s a rough estimate of the box office value of all the films that he’s been a part of.
Hanks has made so many films in his career that it’s difficult to pick out the best. You can always catch them all in some format or another of course, as all but the very latest will be on DVD, Blu-ray and available to stream from the internet. If you want to download movies from the internet, but don’t know if your connection is fast enough, you can check your broadband speed here. If you plan to stream movies and music on a regular basis, you could always upgrade your broadband connection to a supplier than can offer you a faster connection speed.
What makes Hanks stand out as an actor is his versatility that he’s shown through the roles that he’s played during his career, which doesn’t show any signs of slowing down yet.
He was in London last week for the London Film Festival, which opened with the premiere of Captain Phillips, the story based on a real-life event in 2009, where Somali pirates hijacked the first American cargo ship in 200 years. The London Film Festival then closed with the world premiere of his latest film Saving Mr Banks.
While he was in London, Hanks took part in the BAFTA series of interviews A Life in Pictures, sharing anecdotes from different movies with an audience of BAFTA members.
In Saving Mr Banks, he takes on the role of Walt Disney and the focus of the story is Disney convincing the Mary Poppins’ author PL Travers to sell her rights to the tale. Hanks wanted to the audience to see Disney smoking at least once during the film – he smoked three packs a day and died of lung cancer. However, due to political incorrectness of smoking today, he wasn’t allowed to do it!
Although he first made his name in comedy roles like that of Turner in Turner & Hooch (1989) and Splash (1984), Hanks hasn’t always enjoyed comedy. He said of comedy in general that it is ‘such a bitch … It’s sink or swim. It can’t be faked on film.’
Splash is seen as the film that ‘made’ Hanks the superstar he is today. It was the first time he took the lead role, playing the character Allen Bauer who falls in love with a mermaid (Daryl Hannah) who has rescued him from the sea. This was the first time he’d been directed by Ron Howard, who he’s gone on to make a number of films with over the years including Apollo 13. Another of his early films that Hanks is always asked about is Big, where he plays the part of a boy whose wish to be ‘big’ comes true. According to Hanks, the film lead was in discussion for a while before it was offered to him – even Robert de Niro was considered for it.
In 1993, Hanks really stamped his place in Hollywood history with his portrayal of a gay lawyer who has AIDS in Philadelphia and sues his firm for discrimination. It was a pivotal moment in his career as Hanks was awarded Best Actor at the Oscars for his controversial role. To fit the character he lost 35 lbs and thinned his hair to fit the physical description of someone with AIDS.
Hanks’ weight gains for the different roles he has played have recently made the news as it has been suggested this is what has caused him to suffer from type 2 diabetes. However, as it caused a bit of a media furore, Hanks has since said that he thinks he was probably genetically pre-determined to get it, and is clearly a little embarrassed by all the fuss.
Forrest Gump (1994) is another of those stand-out films in Hanks’ career, with an epic tale taking us through the life of a simple man, Forrest Gump, who is present accidentally at many historic moments but his entire focus in life is the crush he has on a woman called Jenny (Robin Wright). Hanks won his second Oscar for the role of Forrest Gump.
Although you always know you’re watching Tom Hanks when you’re watching one of his movies, he still seems to have the knack of choosing to take part in the making of some great films.
And through his glittering career, he’s retained a wholesome kind of image. Even though he has been married twice, he’s been with his second wife for more than 25 years now and it doesn’t look like he’ll be marrying a third time. He has four children – two with each of his wives – and now is a grandfather twice over. His grandkids will probably be more interested in his role of Woody from Toy Story for a few years yet before they get to watch their grandfather in any of his many other acting roles.
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