Perhaps no other actor has been a part of so many classics like Tom Hanks has, with fans having their favorites, of course. The Oscar winner has appeared in films like Forrest Gump, Catch Me If You Can, Saving Private Ryan, Big, Cast Away, and he is also known for voicing Woody in Toy Story. Now, Hanks has revealed which of his 3 films are his favorite.
Over the course of his career, Hanks has earned multiple awards and scored even more nominations for his performances. While some may expect films like Forrest Gump or Saving Private Ryan to rank among his favorites, Hanks revealed that A League of Their Own, Cast Away, and Cloud Atlas actually have a special place in his heart.
“I would not do it according to the way the movies came out. I would do by way of the personal experience that I had when I was doing them, which is very different," added Hanks while speaking with Bill Simmons on The Bill Simmons Podcast. "I would probably say No. 1 would be ‘League of Their Own’ because all I did all summer was play baseball." Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The film also stars Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell. Hanks further added about the classic, “I shagged flies. I ate turkey dogs. I took infield with (co-star) Robin Knight and a ton of other people. I played baseball all summer long in Evansville, Indiana, and in Wrigley Field. There was a day of doing that.” Hanks would go on to explain that another reason for the film's lasting experience was largely due to his family being able to join him during shooting.
As for his number two pick, Hanks answered with Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away, the survival drama about a FedEx troubleshooter who becomes stranded on an uninhabited island. “We just had bold adventures when we were making that movie,” Hanks recalled. “We were out in the middle of the ocean trying to grab shots. And we were off in Fiji on two different occasions and, again, had my whole family with me. There was nothing but adventures every single day.” The film became an instant box office and critical success, grossing roughly $429 million worldwide and earning Hanks an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
While those two picks are understandable, his final selection is considered somewhat of a surprise, especially knowing all of the other great films he has worked on, and that is 2012's Cloud Atlas. Hanks described the multi-storyline sci-fi film, directed by the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame and Tom Tyker, as one of his more memorable experiences because his time filming in Germany stayed with him and never let go. “That was the first time I’d ever shot extensively in Germany and I was surrounded by history,” he added. “But the work itself was we were part of this big, massive ensemble of fantastic people who were just trying to do the hardest, best work on this deep throw.”
As of lately, Hanks has been showing no signs of slowing down. Other than starring in Paul Greengrass' western drama News of the World and Apple TV Plus' war epic Greyhound in 2020, fans can see Hanks flex his acting chops in Apple TV Plus' recently released Finch, a post apocalyptic science fiction drama also starring Caleb Landry Jones. Hanks is also set to appear in Baz Luhrmann's upcoming Elvis biopic, which has Austin Butler in the lead role playing the rock and roll legend, and Disney's live-action Pinocchio remake, which will reunite Hanks with Zemeckis. That film also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lorraine Bracco, Keegan-Michael Key, Cynthia Erivo, and Luke Evans. Both of those projects are set for a 2022 release date.
Source: The Bill Simmons Podcast