Photo by Alex Litvin on Unsplash
The success of Tom Hanks is no luck story. One of Hollywood’s most popular actors has built a brilliant career on the back of his sublime acting talent, bringing us memorable characters like Forrest Gump.
Yet, the last decade or so has seen Hanks take a turn away from the type of roles he’s known for; that is, the solemn, thoughtful figure that speaks calmly and carefully. Nowadays, you’re just as likely to see Hanks as an eccentric gangster or controversial music manager, as he continues to target unusual roles.
Here are five performances that help break the typecasting associated with the movie legend.
Dermot Hoggins and others (Cloud Atlas, 2012)
Six interrelated stories spanning hundreds of years and a variety of genres are told in the almost three-hour film by filmmakers Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski siblings, famous for their free-form filming style.
In all six of them, Tom Hanks makes an appearance in different prosthetically altered avatars. To list them, he plays a deceitful doctor on a sailing ship in the South Pacific, a nosy hotel clerk in a run-down 1930s European hotel, a troubled nuclear scientist in 70s Northern California, a thug-turned author in modern-day London, a minor character in a TV movie being watched in a totalitarian future society in Korea, and a troubled post-apocalyptic tribesman on the Big Island.
Age, race, nationality, and location; Hanks changes everything except for gender. The actor’s lighthearted side has plenty of opportunities to bloom in the film, which is based on a novel of the same name.
‘Colonel’ Tom Parker (Elvis, 2022)
Hanks continues his journey away from his typecast roles with a heavily made-up appearance as Elvis’s manager, ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker.
Parker was a complicated figure. He was greedy and selfish, with an addictive personality. His ability to find gambling establishments contributed to his downfall. This was an era before you could play online casino games for free: every time you staked a chip or pulled a slots lever you risked spiralling into gambling debt, and Parker did it to the tune of a suspected $30 million.
Yet despite this, he also had charm, and Hanks combines the two sides of Parker to good effect.
Finch (Finch, 2021)
After a catastrophe caused by human activity damaged the ozone layer and left cities half-buried in heat and dust, Tom Hanks’ Finch — an ill, elderly inventor — is seemingly the only person still living on Earth.
Finch spends his days scavenging for canned goods and his evenings creating a robot named Jeff. Jeff clumsily learns to walk, drive Finch’s RV, and eventually comes to comprehend the world. His major responsibility will be to take care of Finch’s other close buddy, a dog named Goodyear, once Finch passes away.
Hanks controls the screen with ease and is as delightful to watch as always. While other performers only make fleeting cameos, Hanks gives a sublime showing.
CEO Eamon Bailey (The Circle, 2017)
The movie centers on Mae, played by Emma Watson, who is hired to work for “The Circle,” the biggest and most influential digital and social media organization in the world.
As she advances through the ranks, the company’s creator, Eamon Bailey (Hanks), encourages her to take part in a ground-breaking experiment that tests the limits of privacy, morality, and eventually, her own freedom.
This movie is based on the satirical book The Circle by Dave Eggers. According to Tom Hanks, his character is neither a hero nor a villain, but someone trying to do his best in a difficult situation.
Ove (A Man Called Ove, 2022)
The English-language adaptation of the popular Swedish film “A Man Called Ove” stars Tom Hanks under the direction of filmmaker Marc Forster.
Hanks will portray the lead role of the film’s grumpy widower, whose general discontent is made worse by being abruptly removed from his position as chairman of the neighborhood association where he resides.
Ove gives up and decides to end his life after being forced into retirement from his profession on top of everything else. However, every attempt is derailed by a situation that forces him to help a neighbor in need.
While doing so, Ove forges new connections that take him on an unexpected voyage of reflection and compassion for others, even though he never gives up on his attempts to put a stop to everything.