Tom Hanks explains the doubts he had about Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks has revealed he had doubts about taking on the titular role in Forrest Gump.
Hanks won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the loveable character in the 1994 film, which subsequently went on to win Best Picture.
Despite the critical and commercial success that would follow, Hanks revealed at a New Yorker Live event that he initially harboured doubts about the role and film.
“I say, ‘Hey Bob [Zemeckis, the director] I’ve got a question for you. Is anybody going to care about this movie?’ This guy sitting on a thing in these goofy shoes and this cuckoo suit with a suitcase full of Curious George books and stuff like that. Are we doing anything here that is going to make any sense to anybody?’” he said (via Deadline).
“And Bob said, ‘It’s a minefield, Tom. It’s a g— minefield. We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction. Any footstep we take can be a bouncing Betty that’ll blow our nuts right off.’
“Bob Zemeckis – God bless him, I’ve worked with him more than once – landed on the absolute truth of anybody who has gone forward and said, we are going to commit something to film today, and eventually we’ll cut this into something. You can only have faith,” added Hanks.
Hanks, who recently starred in Pinocchio and A Man Called Otto, has also signed up to a project for the small screen, with the actor lending his voice to geographical series The Americas.
The 10-part series, which is being produced by the minds behind Planet Earth, will “explore the volatile ecosystems in the world's largest landmass of North and South America,” and will air on NBC in the US and the BBC in the UK.
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