Tom Hanks has starred in some of the most beloved films in cinema history – but he’s not a fan of all of them.
The 66-year-old has lit up the screen in Cast Away, The Green Mile, Elvis, the Terminal and A Man Called Otto, among many, many others.
He has also taken home two best actor Oscars for Forrest Gump and Philadelphia, and a handful of other accolades throughout his extensive career – even if he did have ‘tough days’ on some sets.
However, in a conversation with the New Yorker, he was asked about previous comments he made suggesting he takes offense at the idea of anyone ‘hating’ a movie.
‘Okay, let’s admit this: We all have seen movies that we hate,’ the Hollywood icon said. ‘I have been in some movies that I hate. You have seen some of my movies and you hate them.’
While he didn’t name the actual projects he was less than happy with, Tom explained there are five ‘Rubicon’ points when it comes to any project – including the decision to take on the role, going to see it after it has completed, and how successful it ends up being.
He declared that the fifth Rubicon is ‘time’, and referred to 1946 flick It’s A Wonderful Life, which became wildly popular years after it was released.
‘For me, it happened on a movie that I wrote and directed called “That Thing You Do!” I loved making that movie,’ the actor recalled. ‘I loved writing it, I loved being with it. I love all the people in it. When it came out, it was completely dismissed by the first wave of vox populi.
‘It didn’t do great business. It hung around for a while, was viewed as being some sort of odd, quasi-ripoff of nine other different movies and a nice little stroll down memory lane.
‘Now the same exact publications that dismissed it in their initial review called it “Tom Hanks’s cult classic, That Thing You Do!” So now it’s a cult classic. What was the difference between those two things? The answer is time.’
When asked if he is aware a film is going to be good while filming, Tom added: ‘No. There’s no way to tell, because the process is so slow. And so specific. You can only have faith and hope – and what’s bigger than faith and hope? You have to trust the entire process to collaborators who you hope are working at the absolute top of their game farther down the line.’
Although the star has enjoyed countless screen appearances over the years, he recently shared his upset that one of his important projects is rarely mentioned.
Tom took on the role of Michael Sullivan in 2002 drama Road To Perdition – which follows an assassin on the run after his son witnesses a murder committed by his boss, and sees his character torn between being loyal to job and saving his own child.
Appearing on the Reelblend podcast, he said: ‘For one reason or another, no one references Road to Perdition, and that was an incredibly important movie for me to go through.
‘It was shot by Conrad Hall, and you have me in it, Don Moustache with a hat on it, but you also have two guys who turned out to be two of the biggest motion picture presences in the history of the industry with Jude [Law] and Daniel [Craig]. And I killed both of them…
‘People always say, “What movies will they be talking about years from now?”
‘As a guy who watches Turner Classic Movies a lot, the more obscure and unknown a movie from 1940s or 1950s the better, because I have no preconceived notions about it; I don’t know anything about it.
‘When you watch those movies and it’s crackerjack and it’s incredibly moving, all I can think of is, “I’m so glad this movie lasts forever, so I got a chance to revisit it now.” That might be the case with Road To Perdition.’
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