After cementing his name at the top, Tom Hanks once decided to find his footing in the realm of directing, but unlike his work in front of the camera, the actor initially struggled behind the lens. Following the success of 1994’s Forrest Gump, the actor got involved with crafting his passion project, and alongside acting, he also decided to take the job of directing this flick under his wing.
Even though the Cast Away actor did get the movie greenlit following his immense star power, he knew that if he would fail with this project, this could have ended the actor’s run as a director.
Tom Hanks’ directing career could’ve been over after his first project
Although, in the case of working in front of the camera, Tom Hanks is one of the best to ever do it, working as a director brought a whole set of new challenges that the actor had to overcome. And considering that Hanks was also co-starring in That Thing You Do!, that certainly didn’t help with reducing the challenges he faced as a newbie director, as Hanks struggled to do both jobs. Reflecting on the situation, the Elvis star once claimed that if this movie didn’t result in a success for the studios, this would have been the end of his run as a director. He said,
“I’ll admit I had an advantage. If my name had been Tom Smith, they might not have read it. But if it goes smackeroo, flop, you won’t see me directing anything else. You don’t get a second chance.”
However, after enduring the physical grind that came with the responsibility of directing the comedy That Thing You Do!, the job completely changed the Cast Away star as a performer onscreen.
Directing That Thing You Do! changed Tom Hanks as an actor
Although Tom Hanks already made a huge name for himself in the realm of acting before jumping on crafting That Thing You Do!, working on this project changed his perspective as an actor. The physical grind that arrived with the job made the actor realize the struggles a director had to face, as he could feel the torment that goes into them while crafting a film. He said,
“For this job, I started at 4 a.m. every day and didn’t get home until 11:45 at night. I wasn’t ready for the physical grind of it. I don’t think I’ll ever be quite the same actor again. I always thought I was a pretty good boy with directors but I had come in late, and grumpy, a couple of times. I know now what that poor guy is going through,”
But despite the obstacles that arrived with the job, Hanks’ That Thing You Do! would become a decent success at the box office and garnered rave reviews from critics and fans. And this wouldn’t be the last time when Hank would sit in a director’s chair, as he would go on to direct Larry Crowne in 2011.
That Thing You Do! is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: The Virginia Pilot
