Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington are two industry veterans and can be counted among the greatest actors of all time. In their decades-spanning career, the stars have appeared in divergent roles across genres, producing classics and winning accolades.
The duo collaborated on Jonathan Demme’s 1993 legal drama, Philadelphia. In the $206.7 million movie, Hanks played Andrew Beckett who filed a lawsuit against his former employer as he was fired for being gay and contracting HIV. Joe Miller, played by Washington, represented Beckett in the movie. However, the behind-the-scene drama was no less than the astonishing on-screen story.
Denzel Washington Tortured Tom Hanks by Pulling Pranks on Him
Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks certainly developed a solid friendship while working in Philadelphia. Washington, however, was more keep on pulling Hanks’ legs with some intense pranks that were torturing for the Forrest Gump actor. For the role of Andrew Beckett, Hanks had to lose weight following an extreme diet. But it did not stop Washington, rather he played this cruel prank on him. Appearing in an episode of The Graham Norton Show, the Equalizer star recalled their time on the set. “It was extreme. He was eating only 800 calories a day and he went way down [in weight],” Washington said of Hanks.
“He was really really skinny in the scenes in the courtroom. So I would leave candy bars, and I would sneeze and 500 almond joys would fly out. I was having pizzas delivered to him.”
The pranks eventually paid off as Hank went on to win his first Oscar for the film and Washington said, “he thanked me when he won the Oscar.” But, Washington’s test must have been painful for Hanks as he was forced to be hungry and the joy of eating food was just posing as a utopian dream for him.
Tom Hanks Learned a Lot From Denzel Washington’s Masterclass
Both actors are the most prominent and have achieved remarkable feats but Hanks said he had learned a great deal of acting from his Philadelphia co-star, Washington. “I sat beside him for three weeks shooting the trial,” Hanks told Irish Times.
“I had no dialogue. It was a thriller of an acting class. He follows no rules but pursues the moment. No nonsense, but a looseness that can’t be faked. A one-on-one scene with him is a game of hardball catch – he is both daring you to keep up and propelling you to do more.”
Hanks is all in praise for the Training Day Star considering the 68-year-old the great actor of our era. “He is our Brando. Nicholson. Olivier,” Hanks said of Washington’s acting genius. “And, like me, he steals office supplies and notebooks from the set dressing,” he joked.
“We were talking about our New York City days as broke actors – about the same age, peers, trying to learn craft and get work. I noted that we were in the same boat at the same time. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘But you could catch a cab in Manhattan.’”
The duo only collaborated in one movie and it turned out to be great. Both stars are in the elite club of Oscar-winning actors and still working on movie projects. Washington is set to reprise his role in Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 3 which is scheduled for 1 September 2023 release. He will also appear in Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind, set to release on 8 December 2023, and Ridley Scott’s epic Gladiator 2 which will hit theatres on 22 November 2024. Hanks will appear in Nia Vardalos’ comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, set to release on 15 September 2023, and Robert Zemeckis’ 2024 film Here.
Source: The Digital Fix.
