The two-time Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks had his breakthrough in the 80s with the comedy Big. The film saw him play the role of Josh Baskin, a boy who transforms into an adult physically after he wishes to be an adult. The film earned Hanks his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Elizabeth Perkins starred opposite Hanks in the film as his love interest, Susan Lawrence. Recently, the actress revealed that her favorite onscreen kiss was with Hanks in the film and that she had a huge crush on the actor then.
Elizabeth Had A Huge Crush On Tom Hanks
Actor Tom Hanks is popularly known as the ‘nice guy of Hollywood’, due to his kind persona and infectious positivity. He has had many fans within the industry as well, with many actors hoping to have a career like him. One of his admirers is reportedly his Big co-star Elizabeth Perkins.
The actor starred along with Perkins in Big, which propelled both to global stardom. Hanks played a young boy who gets transformed into an adult while Perkins played his love interest in the film. Perkins revealed in the talk show Watch What Happens Live!, that she had a huge crush on Tom Hanks while they were filming.
When answering a question from a fan about her favorite on-screen kiss, Elizabeth Perkins chose her scene with her co-star in Big, saying that found the actor quite adorable while filming. She said,
“I had such a crush on him at the time. I was single…He was with Rita Wilson already. They were dating but hadn’t gotten married yet. So he was completely off limits, but he was adorable.”
Hanks met his wife Rita Wilson in 1981, on the sets of the TV show Bosom Buddies, and they married in 1988, the year that Big released.
Tom Hanks Was Not The First Choice For Starring In Big
The Tom Hanks starrer Big was directed by Penny Marshall and was written by Anne Spielberg, the sister of Steven Spielberg, and Gary Ross. They reportedly wrote the script in ten days. While initially Steven Spielberg was supposed to make the film, he got busy with other films and had to decline the offer.
When Spielberg was attached to the project, he reportedly wanted to cast Harrison Ford in the role. After his exit, and Penny Mashall took over, the first choice was actually Robert De Niro. In fact, Elizabeth Perkins performed a screen test with the Goodfellas actor, but he later dropped out due to scheduling issues. The team then cast Tom Hanks.
Perkins mentioned in the talk show how her experience was working with De Niro,
“It’s like a totally different movie in my brain with Robert De Niro…He was more moody. It was a little bit of a horror movie. What Tom Hanks brought to it was so much lighter.”
Tom Hanks’ casting made the film a classic comedy, which earned him an Oscar nomination and the film $151 million at the box office.
Big is streaming on Disney Plus.
Also read:Tom Hanks’ $679M Classic Movie Changed Marvel Star Chris Pratt’s Life Trajectory
