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As one of the most well-liked celebrities in all of Hollywood cinema, Tom Hanks is well known for his loveable personality illustrated by roles in such films as Forrest Gump, Toy Story, Cast Away and The Green Mile from author Stephen King.
Having enjoyed over four flourishing decades in the industry, Hanks has consistently provided audiences with compelling characters and stories. It’s a gift that the actor saw in himself from a young age, once penning a pre-fame letter to a producer confident in his ability of becoming a global star.
However sharp his vision was, Hanks couldn’t have predicted the stable position he had gained at the top of the mountain. While so many actors reach the summit of the industry and the fame that goes with it, few have stayed there for as long as Hanks. While sitting at the top of the Tinseltown range, many actors have found themselves teetering over the precipice, battered by boulders and heavy-set snowballs thrown from below. But Hanks has rarely had to deal with either.
He is as universally loved as ice cream and just as sweet. It’s a commonality he brings to most of his roles, and it makes picking his favourite Tom Hanks movies all the more difficult. Speaking to The Bill Simmons Podcast, Hanks recently revealed the three films that he has enjoyed working on the most throughout his career, with some of his choices serving up a surprise.
Before starting his rundown, he also clarified that these films included his favourite personal experiences and did not reflect the film’s final quality. Which, considering his first choice, which is objectively one of the worst movies of his career, makes total sense.
His first choice was the Wachowski sisters’ sprawling sci-fi Cloud Atlas, also starring the likes of Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Bae Doona, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant and Susan Sarandon. Describing Cloud Atlas as a film, “Shot on a hope and a dream and nothing but a circle of love,” Hanks added, “That was the first time I’d ever shot extensively in Germany, and I was surrounded by history”.
Commenting on the impressive ensemble cast of the film, the actor added, “But the work itself, we were part of this big, massive ensemble of fantastic people who were just trying to do the hardest, best work on a deep throw… that whole movie was such a deep throw that making it was magical”.
The actor’s second choice was Cast Away from Robert Zemeckis, a film that saw Tom Hanks make friends with a volleyball whilst descending into madness on a desert island. “We just had bold adventures when making that movie,” reported the actor, adding, “We were out in the middle of the ocean trying to grab shots. We were out in Fiji and my whole family was with me…Nothing but adventures every single day”.
The baseball movie A League Of Their Own is the final of Tom Hanks’ choices, including the film, simply because he was able to play the sport throughout the whole duration of the film’s production.
However, the list may need to be revised somewhat. There’s a good chance that the actor hasn’t seen the majority of his movies in recent years, explaining to People that he doesn’t sit down to watch them because he sees “the falsehood in them. I see the loss. I see that one time, ‘Oh, man, I missed that opportunity.’”
“And it’s not because, at the moment, I chose not to — it’s because, after it was done, I realised I didn’t go far enough,” he continued with typical self-effacing charm. “I didn’t go to the place that I could have gone. Then I asked myself, well, why? Was it because I was satisfied with what I had? Was it because I wasn’t up enough on the text? Was it because I didn’t have enough of those ideas in my pocket? Or you know, was it because I was late that day and we had to rush the shot and instead of six passes, we only got two passes at it? That’s where the self-doubt creeps in.”
Tom Hanks’ favourite Tom Hanks movies:
- Cloud Atlas
- Cast Away
- A League of Their Own
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