TOM HANKS The veteran star’s in a league of his own
Known as the undisputed ‘nice guy of Hollywood’, the superstar is taking on one of his most challenging roles yet
At first glance it doesn’t seem like that big a stretch for Tom Hanks to play Mister Rogers. Cast as the US children’s-TV icon in the new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, the Oscar winner has a way of projecting a positive energy – a palpable kindness – on anything he touches, much as Fred Rogers did in his three decades on public television before his death in 2003. But to those who know Hanks well, the two men are “very different people”, says co-star Matthew Rhys. “Tom is incredibly fast, sharp-witted, humorous in that lightningquick way, and he moves and talks very differently from Fred Rogers.” Hanks admits his biggest challenge was “slowing down”, as he told CBS This Morning, insisting that it was “terrifying” to take on the role of such a treasured public figure. The actor “worked hard at it”, says the film’s producer, Peter Saraf. “Not just getting Fred’s slow pace but his uncompromised listening, his intuition.” Intent on not doing an impersonation of Rogers, Hanks was outfitted with only a wig, eyebrows and, of course, the host’s trademark cardigan. “It was an embodiment and an essence,” Rhys adds. “And when you see the transformation, you realise that wily old fox Hanks has gone and done it again.”
And just like that, Hanks is also once again a front-runner for awards season. In almost four decades on screen, the actor, 63, has won back-to-back Academy Awards (for 1993’s Philadelphia and 1994’s Forrest Gump) and starred in dozens of beloved hit movies. He and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, also 63, have embodied Hollywood #couplegoals for 31 years. And he’s earned a reputation as an all-around good guy – an everyman on and off screen
“He’s got a razor wit and will not suffer fools. You have to admire that” – Ron Howard
whom audiences adore. Now Neighbourhood underlines a distinction that Hanks has learned to embrace. “I recognised in myself a long time ago that I don’t instil fear in anybody,” he recently told The New York Times of his choice of roles over the years. “That’s different than being nice, you know? I think I have a cache of mystery. But it’s not one of malevolence.”
With his flair for playing heroes, his talent is sometimes taken for granted because “he’s that good”, says his friend Ron Howard, who directed him in 1984’s Splash and 1995’s Apollo 13. “He’s like one of those athletes who is so effortless that you don’t realise that he’s the game changer.”
On set he has the attitude of a team player. Having resolved to work with more female filmmakers, Hanks – who had previously declined the Neighbourhood role “a couple of times” before director Marielle Heller convinced him – made it clear during the production that he was at Heller’s command. “He came in and immediately called me ‘boss’, ” she recalls. “He knows I’m setting the tone, and he’s respectful of letting that be the case even though he’s Tom Hanks, which is just amazing.” Hanks had “respect and kindness for everybody on the set” on location in Pittsburgh “and is the hardest-working person”, says Saraf.
“He never leaves. He’s not the kind of actor who goes and sits in his trailer for most of the day and just waits to come and do his bits. He wants to be involved, to see what’s going on and be part of the whole process. And it really sets a tone for everybody who’s working on the film.” Hanks insists he simply likes to
be “part of an ensemble”, he told WHO earlier this year. “Anybody can make it a miserable day by being cranky or self-centred, by thinking it’s all about them instead of all about the whole.”
His thoughtfulness extended beyond the set as well. After the production moved to New York City, 11 people were killed in a mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. “He picked up the phone and called the mayor of Pittsburgh and said, ‘What could I do?’” Saraf recalls. “And he flew back to Pittsburgh a few weeks later to speak at a ceremony of healing. That’s just an example of the kind of thing that Tom Hanks would do. And he did.”
As a child, Hanks didn’t have much of a chance to put down roots. Born in Northern California, Hanks was only 5 when his parents divorced. He lived with his father and older brother and sister (his other brother stayed with his mum) and moved around as his dad embarked on various jobs. “My parents were so busy with all their own problems, I don’t think they were even aware of the fact that sometimes we were in the house,” the actor told The Guardian in 2017.
At Oakland’s Skyline High School, Hanks was on the soccer and track teams but found his joy in drama class. He dropped out of college to join the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, then was cast in the ’80s sitcom Bosom Buddies. He followed up his
breakthrough movie roles in Splash and 1988’s Big with a few flops – then Penny Marshall’s
A League of Their Own in 1992 set him on a steady rise to superstardom.
Though his fame increased, Hanks still saw each movie as a learning experience. “He loves smart people saying smart things. Whether he likes what they’re saying or not,” says Howard. “And he nurtures that environment around him. He also has a great sense of humour.” Maura Tierney, who co-starred with Hanks in Broadway’s Lucky Guy, would often find “like, five selfies of Tom making goofy faces on my phone”, she recalls. “He would take selfies if anyone left their phone lying around. He’s not afraid to be a goofball.” Even within that laughter, “he invites honesty from those who are close to him, not in a self-flagellating, neurotic way but with a clear-eyed intelligence”, Howard adds. “And that certainly includes Rita and the kids.”
Hanks and Wilson, who first met while co-starring in 1985’s Volunteers, were married in 1988 after the actor divorced his first wife, actress Samantha Lewes, with whom he shares son Colin, 42, now an actor, and daughter Elizabeth, 37, a writer. He and Wilson have two grown sons: Chet, 29, an actor and rapper, and Truman, 23, who has a math degree and works on film sets. Hanks admits his older children grew up in a different world from their siblings. “I talk about this with [them] all the time,” the actor told The Guardian. “They remember when life was normal. When we lived in standard houses and I sometimes had work or not … My younger kids have always had this other guy who was their dad.”
His approach to parenting stayed the course. “Somewhere along the line, I figured out the only thing really, I think, eventually a parent can do is say, ‘I love you, there’s nothing you can do wrong, you cannot hurt my feelings, I hope you will forgive me on occasion, and what do you need me to do?’” Hanks told The
New York Times. “You offer up that to them. ‘I will do anything I can possibly do in order to keep you safe.’ That’s it. Offer that up and then just love them.”
Now Hanks’ home life revolves around spending time in Los Angeles with Wilson, vacationing in Europe when their schedules allow and visiting their three granddaughters. Despite his successes, his friends admire “what doesn’t change about Tom”, says Julia Roberts, who co-starred with him in two films. “He is as happy and excited as ever. About work,
about friendships. It doesn’t change or wane over time.”
Currently shooting the post-Civil War drama News of the World, Hanks will be honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2020 Golden Globes – regardless of any hardware he takes home for Neighbourhood. Just don’t expect it to go to his head. “He doesn’t get caught up in celebrity,” says Saraf. Like Mister Rogers, “Tom just seems to be somebody who’s very comfortable and committed to living his life as a decent human being.”
“He’s as fun and funny in real life as one would imagine” — Julia Roberts