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Celebrity Profile
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| Angels and Demons | Craig McPherson
March 2010
Movie Entertainment
He’s played some of the most iconic roles of any actor of his generation: from the memorable Forrest Gump to a courageous WWII army Captain in Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks’ resume looks more like a fine acting pedigree than anything else. Yet back in his salad days, Hanks spent two years in drag playing a schemer who cross dressed to live in a low rent women only hotel in the television series Bosom Buddies. That was in 1980-82. In the decades that would follow, few could have predicted that Hanks would go on to become a major force in Hollywood.
From the start it seemed as if lady luck was on Hanks’ side. When the axe fell on Bosom Buddies, he landed an appearance on an episode of Happy Days. There he met Ron Howard who was branching out into directing and looking to cast the male lead opposite Daryl Hannah in the romantic mermaid comedy Splash.
A self-described “geek and spaz” as a child, Hanks confessed in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that he was unpopular at school and was painfully shy. Quite a far cry from the outgoing hams he portrayed in early film roles like Splash and Bachelor Party.
Coming off his short television career comprised mainly of light-weight comedic roles in sitcoms, Hanks’ segue onto the big screen looked as if it would continue the trend of pigeon-holing him as a comedic actor. Movies like The Man with One Red Shoe, Volunteers and The Money Pit were a mixed bag that ranged from flops to moderate successes, but a trend was being established. He was steadily progressing from a career built upon frivolous roles to meatier dramatic parts.
A series of critically acclaimed box office failures began to create a buzz for Hanks. Movies like 1992’s women’s league baseball movie A League of their Own, designed primarily as a vehicle to showcase Madonna, and the AIDS awareness drama Philadelphia, turned heads, with Philadelphia earning him the dual prize of Golden Globe and Academy Award for best actor.
All of this set the stage for 1994’s Forrest Gump, where Hanks ingrained himself in the consciousness of movie goers the world over as the lovable simpleton with a remarkable insight on life and the human condition. The role allowed Hanks to revisit his lighter side, while at the same time enveloped it in a dramatic tour-de-force.
With Gump, Hanks again cleaned up at the award ceremonies, winning both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for best actor, as well as a slew of film critics and Screen Actors Guild awards. It also officially cemented him as one of the preeminent actors in Hollywood.
Most recently Hanks has been attached to the controversial film adaptations of the Da Vinci Code and its sequel, Angels and Demons, which premiers in March on The Movie Network. Based on the books by Dan Brown, the books and their subsequent films have been the target of Vatican criticism for taking liberties with Catholic Church history. Undaunted, Hanks responded to the criticism in an interview with the London Evening Standard newspaper saying in essence that Brown’s works should be taken with a grain of salt and that viewers should just sit back and enjoy a good story that’s a lot of fun.
In addition to Angels and Demons, March brings a bounty of Hanks films to The Movie Network, allowing viewers to revisit or catch up on such notables as Apollo 13, based on the ill-fated lunar mission, Philadelphia, and The Making of Pacific, a behind-the-scenes look at HBO’s new mini series which Hanks co-produced along with Stephen Spielberg and Gary Goetzman.
Time to start making the popcorn and reserving the spot on the couch. Related Articles The Pacific
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