Aaron Eckhart gives Hanks his full support

In the new movie “Sully,” double Oscar-winning movie star Tom Hanks naturally plays the heroic airline pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, who landed his plane on the Hudson River after a flock of geese knocked out both its engines, saving all 155 souls on board.

Sitting next to him through both the harrowing ordeal and subsequent federal investigation into the incident is Aaron Eckhart as the plane’s co-pilot, Jeff Skiles. It’s as definitive a supporting role as they get, and a position that the 48-yearold Eckhart has often played superbly, sometimes opposite other Academy Awarded performances such as Julia Roberts’ “Erin Brockovich” and Heath Ledger’s “Dark Knight” Joker.

“Sully got most of the attention,” Eckhart observes. “Jeff understood; I talked to him about that. He understood the deal. It’s like in movies: There’s one face to a movie; you’ve gotta put somebody’s face on the poster. He made peace with it and went on his way, though I think it might have taken some soulsearching to do that.”

Everyone familiar with the piloting pair points out that Skiles has a much more pronounced sense of humor than Sully does, and Eckhart certainly takes a few opportunities in Clint Eastwood’s dour film to steal scenes with laughs.

“Sully is so dry that anything that Jeff does is going to make him look like a clown,” the actor says, shrugging.

Eckhart, who’s had leading or co-starring roles in such films as “In the Company of Men,” “I, Frankenstein” and “Battle: Los Angeles,” has developed a personal theory of supporting acting over the years.

“I think there is an art to it,” he says. “The most important thing is that everybody understands that there’s one No. 1 and everybody’s job below that is to define your hero. So everything that I say, every action that I take, I’m there to do that. That’s the relationship I took with Tom. If I’m working with Julia or whoever I’m working with, I’m always calculating in my mind how to make the protagonist whatever the director wants them to be: more likable, funny, et cetera. For example, he could say, ‘I’m going to the store,’ and if I crack up, I’ve

made our hero funny.

“Most people don’t understand that relationship. They believe that their supporting performance has to get its own shine, they’re trying to get their pound of flesh out if it. I don’t see it that way. People say to me — not infrequently — ‘You’re always so solid in these movies.’ When I’m the No. 2, that’s my job.”

Next up: November’s real-life boxing saga “Bleed for This.” Eckhart will play coach Kevin Rooney to Miles Teller’s comeback sensation Vinny Paz (formerly Pazienza).

“I again play another supporting role,” Eckhart says proudly.