ENTERTAINMENT
Tom Hanks on his Inferno co-star, his acting process, the film itself and more
In his long, distinguished and rather versatile career, Tom Hanks has been the star of many career-defining films. But he has been the star of only two franchises — one simply features his voice (Toy Story) in a celebration animation franchise, while the other (Da Vinci Code trilogy) is a live-action juggernaut. The latter has seen him play Robert Langdon, a symbologist, a much-loved character created by bestselling author Dan Brown in three films so far — over the span of a decade.
We caught up with him somewhere between his promotions for his latest, Inferno and gatecrashing a wedding in New York’s Central Park and asked him about the film and how he gets it right with his roles ever so often.
Excerpts from our conversation...
Inferno is our (director Ron Howard’s and mine) fifth movie together and all of them start off at the same place. We ask ourselves ‘Is there something here we can crack? Because otherwise, I’d rather stay at home and play with the kids than go off and make a movie that isn’t going to confound and challenge us every single day. And it’s always about the material. The truth is I wouldn’t be involved in it if it didn’t strike my fancy from the get-go. I’m very selfish too, because Robert Langdon is a fabulous character to play. He’s got no baggage, he’s smart and in all of these stories, he gets immersed in something that propels him all the way through. It all comes down to procedure and behaviour that is laid out for me by either Dan Brown or David Koepp.
My approach to playing Langdon hasn’t changed, the only thing that has changed is that we have gone through an establishment of some behaviour from the first one. When we made The Da Vinci Code, I was probably intimidated by him because I was trying to constantly manifest this concept of the professor who lived alone and got called in as the expert. And in Angels & Demons, he was the guy who would come in and explain things and figure it out at the same time. But that gives way here (in Inferno) to what Dan Brown has created — he doesn’t know where he is or what he’s doing or why he’s there and why he’s got these needles stuck in him (when he wakes up in hospital).
So, both Ron and I come to the story with an understanding of the way Langdon thinks, what he would do and would not do and what drives him. So we didn’t have so much to imagine and create, but we did have a lot in order to protect. Because Langdon is a very specific guy — there’s stuff that he’s not afraid of and there’s stuff that he is horrified by. So this time, it’s more about now as opposed to what happened in the past as it was with the two previous films (The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons).
Yes, we do read the novels before getting into the script stage, but we haven’t done all of the Dan Brown books. There was another book (The Lost Symbol) where Ron and I got together and said ‘OK, well, I don’t know what the new territory is there’. We don’t have to do all these movies — we’re not under contract, we only do them because we think ‘Hey, there’s something really great, look what we get to do here’. And I think that with Inferno, Dan Brown is dealing with a very specific authentic theme — it’s not about something that happened thousands of years ago, but it’s about the future of the world. Plus, what David (Koepp) and Ron did with this is to load it with other stuff that is not even in the book so they get to discover brand new things as well.
He’s a tremendous actor and I’ve been a fan for a long time. I’m just beguiled by his magic eyes. He has a physicality to him that is so specific and endearing. His value is his artistry. And when I spoke to him about the movie, he specifically asked about the role of Sims. Irrfan does not fit the description of the character as written in the book, but his case for himself, his creative ideas about playing Sims, completely won me over and he’s an absolute pleasure to work with and is incredibly intelligent.
That’s somebody else’s responsibility. I don’t have to do anything like that.
In the beginning of my career, I was thrilled to know that someone was asking me to be in a movie and I thought that was all that was required and as long as they keep asking, it will continue to fall into place. I had to become dissatisfied with my own process around six movies in, where I was feeling I was not bringing to the work anything other than my instinct and I realised I was getting older and had to re-examine my approach. As you get older, you have a different set of chops and perspective and, believe it or not, a different wisdom. Every five years, I went through a process of examination of myself as a man and as an actor and thinking, ‘I’m 36 or 38 years old now and I don’t want to play the young man who’s trying to figure out life.’ Instead, I want to play a man of bitter compromise, I want to play someone who’s been through something. So, it’s a never-ending process of examining where you are in life as a human being and then transposing that, so it can reflect in your work somehow.
Reddit suffers outage with ‘upstream connect error’ message
Border-Gavaskar Trophy: How has Jasprit Bumrah fared in Tests in Australia?
Delhi records coldest night of the season, temp drops to...
Crossing the Line: Ukraine's Use of Storm Shadow Missiles and the Escalation of Conflict
When Malaika Arora talked about the controversial ‘instant pleasure’ ad, it was for…
This is the world’s most expensive shopping street, not Fifth Avenue, New Bond Street, it is...
Big setback for Gautam Adani, Kenya cancels Rs 6216 crore deal with Adani Group due to...
Viral video: Man’s jugaad to stay warm in winter will leave you SHOCKED, watch here
Hinduja Group firm gets key approval for acquisition of Anil Ambani's debt-ridden Reliance Capital
Shloka Mehta looks stunning in white floral kurta as she clicked with Akash Ambani, it costs Rs....
Who is Sagar Adani, Gautam Adani's nephew, accused of bribery, fraud charges in US?
IND vs AUS: Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins eye historic captaincy milestone in Perth Test
PayPal down: Several users face issue while logging into accounts, say 'no one could...'
BGT 2024, Ind vs Aus: Can Shubhman Gill be the new Cheteshwar Pujara? Is he really ready?
The Ultimate Guide to Luxury Gifting: Discover Heirloom Pashmina by Pashmina.com
Effortless Relocations: The Perks Of Professional Removalists In Melbourne
Watch: Pakistan fan with 'Imran Khan' poster asked to leave Hobart stadium in Australia
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for...
What is demisexuality? Everything you need to know about this lesser-known sexual orientation
WATCH: World’s shortest woman meets world’s tallest woman, video goes viral
IND vs AUS 1st Test: Predicted playing XIs, Perth weather forecast and pitch report
IND vs AUS: When will Rohit Sharma join India squad? Check latest update
'Scam 2024': Diljit Dosanjh lookalike pranks people on Pune streets, video goes viral
Delhi Air Pollution: Centre announces staggered work timings for govt employees; check details
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio loses nearly 80 lakh subscribers in just 30 days, BSNL adds...
IND vs AUS, 1st Test Dream11 prediction: Fantasy cricket tips for India vs Australia match
This country has most expensive passport in world, not US, UK, UAE, it costs Rs...
Amitabh Bachchan opens up on Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan divorce rumours
Amid rising air pollution, Delhi-NCR's crematorium records cleanest air; check AQI here
Revolutionising Medical Imaging: Venudhar Rao Hajari’s impact on healthcare technology
Abhishek Gupta and Onevision Media: Scaling brands on social media
Video shows Korean girl eating jalebi for first time, her reaction to Indian sweet goes viral
Cristiano Ronaldo confirms THIS YouTube star as his next guest, says, 'Will break Internet'
Delhi Assembly Elections: AAP releases first list of 11 candidates for 2025 polls
Adani Group's FIRST REACTION after US indicts Gautam Adani in alleged bribery case
Instagram introduces new feature, know how to reset app's algorithm, change your feed
No mention of Aaradhya Bachchan in Amitabh Bachchan's post on birthdays, it happened recently
Oppo Find X8 and X8 Pro launched in India, check specifications, price, other details
Charges against Gautam Adani: BJP's scathing attack on Congress, questions timing of development
Jasprit Bumrah's BIG statement on taking up Perth test captaincy, says, 'tactically better...'
Blackout on breaks: Company imposes no-sick-leave policy until 2025
Drug-laden terrorists on India's western, northern frontiers
Mohammad Shami trolls Sanjay Manjrekar over IPL auction bid prediction, says, 'Baba ki...'
IND vs AUS Test: When and where to watch 1st match of Border-Gavaskar trophy, know details here
CAQM amends Grap Stages III, IV, enforces stricter measures in Delhi-NCR amid air pollution woes
Malayalam actor Meghanathan passes away at 60 after suffering from...
Adani Green Energy's FIRST reaction after US indicts Gautam Adani in alleged bribery case
'Keep me out of...': Pakistani Instagram star Mathira on MMS leak controversy
Delhi Air Pollution: AQI marginally improves from 'severe' to 'very poor' category
Meet actress who worked with Alia Bhatt, was asked to 'compromise', connected to Aishwarya Rai by..
Aishwarya Rai’s remark on Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘habits’ goes viral amid divorce rumours with Abhishek
Rekha's BOLD statement about Amitabh Bachchan goes viral, 'why hurt...'
Meet man, IITian who built Rs 5493 crore firm, has this Mukesh Ambani connection, he is from...
Shillong Teer Results TODAY November 21, 2024 Live Updates: Check winning numbers here
‘I didn’t have time to…’: When AR Rahman revealed having ‘agreement’ before marriage to Saira Banu
Amitabh Bachchan praises Abhishek Bachchan's new film, netizens ask 'kash ye Aishwarya...'
Viral video: Woman's sizzling belly dance to 'Namak' impresses internet, watch
Hardik Pandya banned, Mumbai Indians captain to miss first match of IPL 2025 due to...
Meet man who studied at IIM, IIT, then built Rs 1160000000 company, got inspired by…
Meet woman, who quit as dentist for UPSC exam, became IAS officer with AIR...
Viral video: Little girl steals hearts with her adorable dance to 'o meri cutie', watch
Gautam Adani's company signs another pact to acquire 100% stake in...