What Does Tom Hanks Consider the “Greatest Job an Actor Can Have”?
Tom Hanks is one of the most well-known actors in the world. He’s won two Academy Awards, and he’s earned a total of five nominations. With good reason, almost everyone knows their favorite Tom Hanks performances; nearly every list will differ as to which ones they choose. Hanks has delivered an incredible number of wonderful roles.
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Hanks has appeared in a variety of genres throughout his career, including straight comedy (The ‘Burbs) to heavy drama (Philadelphia). When asked how he balances the emotional tone in movies that need both humor and tragedy (perhaps what Hanks does best), he cited his early acting experiences as preparation:
“My first job as an actor was in rotating repertory theater, which I think is the greatest job an actor can have because there is such a variety that is demanded of you. You don’t really have to make any choices. Years ago in 1977 at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, we did six plays a year — a comedy, history, tragedy, something contemporary and something made up. So the job of the actor was to live up to the text, the expectations of what each individual play was. When you get into films and television, those are singular decisions that you make. The job is the job. The text is the text. And it has never been a circumstance where I thought it’s time to do a comedy, oh, it’s time to get serious or it’s time to get historical. It’s always about what does the story examine by way of the theme that it’s talking about and how do we get there. That’s just fun. I think in every comedy I’ve done there’s been some serious moments and in every serious movie, there’s been some comedic moments. That’s the way life is.”
Tom Hanks is one of the most versatile and beloved actors in Hollywood. He’s been in a variety of films, both comedies and dramas, and he says that his early experience with rotating repertory theater has helped him balance out the tone in movies. In every movie he’s in, Hanks tries to stay true to the text and the expectations of the individual play. Whether it’s a serious historical drama or a light-hearted comedy, Hanks always brings his all to the table.
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