From a young age, Tom Hanks was interested in the dramatic arts. Naturally, then, he immersed himself in the world of theatre, eventually landing roles that would earn him significant praise. The actor soon moved to the big city of New York in the hopes of finding more opportunities, where he landed several roles both on stage and screen.
Eventually, Hanks was cast in movies like Splash and The Money Pit, which helped to establish his name in Hollywood, although it wasn’t until Big, released in 1988, that he became more widely known. His portrayal of a child who transforms into a grown man, subsequently left to navigate the adult world, earned him an Oscar nomination. The actor wouldn’t win a coveted Academy Award until 1994, though, when he starred in Philadelphia as a man living with AIDs, desperate to take down his homophobic employer.
The 1990s really was Hanks’ decade. He continued to star in successful movies, winning another Oscar in 1995 for Forrest Gump, in which he played the kind-hearted protagonist who continuously found himself at the centre of many major moments in American history. It seemed as though Hanks was a favourite for playing loveable roles, captivating audience members with wit and charm.
He often plays heroes, no matter the genre. Whether he’s voicing an animated toy sheriff in Toy Story or playing the human embodiment of a saviour in Saving Private Ryan, Hanks can often be seen on screen acting as the good guy. Thus, Hanks once began to worry that he was opting for too many roles without enough range.
Subsequently, when Clint Eastwood offered him a role in his film Sully, Hanks initially said no. The movie, released in 2016, tells the tale of Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, a pilot who was forced to make an emergency landing after the plane he was flying collided with a large flock of birds. When he realised that the plane was too far away from any nearby airports – and with both engines severely damaged – he managed to land the plane in the Hudson River, saving everyone’s lives.
Eastwood, a prolific filmmaker, wanted Hanks to play the heroic role, but he was hesitant to play a character that he felt was similar to others he’s embodied before. “When Clint Eastwood said, ‘You want to be Sully?’ I said to him, ‘I’ve sort of played that role before,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, you have.’ I took that as a challenge,” he told The New York Times.
Hanks realised that just because Sully would require him to play a hero, it didn’t have to mean sticking to a specific formula. He explained, “I look at it like this. I have a particular cinematic countenance that I carry into any movie, the same way that De Niro carries a malevolence into every role that he plays. There can be new ways to explore what that means.”
The actor accepted the role, which became one of his best performances of the 2010s. While Sully was nominated for ‘Best Sound Editing’ at the Oscars, with Hanks missing out on a nomination of his own, critics and audiences seemed to enjoy the film a lot, particularly praising the actor’s turn as the heroic figure.