“Look this is not usually the way it works”: Disney’s CEO Bob Iger Called Tom Hanks to Change His Decision About 117.9 Million Movie
Tom Hanks is one of the most phenomenal actors Hollywood has ever produced. With great acting skills and a tremendous choice of projects, the iconic actor has already carved a place in the world of entertainment. His movies like Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Road to Perdition, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Post, Philadephia, and the list goes on.
Tom Hank’s Saving Mr. Banks was a biographical drama based on the development of the character of Mary Poppins. The movie features Emma Thompson as author P.L. Traverse and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. It is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the 67-year-old actor. However, Tom Hanks was skeptical about playing the role of Walt Disney in the 2013 release Saving Mr. Banks.
Why Tom Hanks Was Not Interested To Play Walt Disney?
Tom Hanks’ filmography has some great projects regarding biopics like- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. and Philadelphia. He was praised by critics for the portrayal of the character of Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks. The Academy Award recipient was in no mood to play the role of Walt Disney in the John Lee Hancock starrer biography.
During an interview with the media outlet Collider, Tom Hanks revealed-
“The burden, you know. Honestly, the responsibility. I heard about it first from Tony. I think he’s the head of the physical production at Disney. But he and I executive produced and worked and created From The Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, and The Pacific. We had done a lot of stuff. So he was over there. We have lunch every now and again. You’ve got to play Walt Disney in this movie we have.’ And I said, ‘Geez, who needs that pressure.”
The Bridge Of Spies actor further said-
“Then Bob Iger called me which, you know, he even said, ‘Look, this is not usually the way this works. I call you and say well, will you do it? And I said, ‘Well, I haven’t read the screenplay,’”
Bob Iger had convinced the six times Oscar winner to get him on the board and the project went on to become one of the best movies of his acting career.
Why Tom Hanks Felt Playing Walt Disney Was One Of The Toughest Roles?
During an interview with the News Daily, the Cast Away actor spoke about Saving Mr. Banks and spoke about his role. He mentioned-
“Walt Disney was as ubiquitous to my growing up as Elvis Presley and Smokey the Bear. We watched him every Sunday night on TV and he’d talk about Disneyland, but when I went there, that was like, ‘Oh my God, I’d died and gone to haven’t.”
While differentiating between playing Walt Disney and seeing his character on screen, the actor said-
“It’s just the hardest work that is to be done. There’s a billion hours of video, of Walt performing as Walt Disney, being a great guy. But I found enough actual footage of him in interviews when he’d really like to be done with the subject.”
Tom Hanks further said-
“When he doesn’t want to talk about Fantasia again, because what he’s really here to do is show you the new anima tronic birds that are going to be going into the Enchanted Tiki Room. When I could find him showing any legitimate kind of consternation, that was worth its weight in gold.”
According to Tom Hanks the family of Walt Disney’s family was simply not on the same page with Disney and this really created issues with Tom Hanks. He was blessed by the daughter of Walt Disney during the promotion of the movie.
Saving Mr. Banks is currently available on Disney+.
Source: Collider
