Something very, very bad has happened and the whole world is holding its breath. NASA's lunar missions, which the United States and all other countries have taken for granted as an unwavering and continuing success, seem to be turning into a terrible catastrophe. In 1970, the Apollo 13 spacecraft undergoes an explosion on board as it heads for the Moon, depriving it of most of its electrical energy and oxygen. There is a good chance that your astronauts will die, in real time, on national television.
Who can save them and all of us? Who can draw a Pyrrhian victory from this defeat? Before his success in feature films, actor Tom Hanks was primarily known for the fun but short-lived ABC comedy series “Bosom Buddies”. He then teamed up with director Ron Howard for the 1983 blockbuster “Splash,” which made him one of the most profitable and beloved actors of the 1980s and beyond. He won two consecutive Academy Awards (best actor for “Philadelphia” in 1993 and “Forrest Gump” in 1999) out of five nominations (best actor for “Big” in 1988, “Saving Private Ryan” in 1998 and “Cast Away” in 2000). However, oddly enough, despite his remarkable film work, he hadn't been nominated in nearly two decades.
Browse our photo gallery with Hanks' 24 best film performances, including some of his most atrocious slights at the Oscars. We also include “Elvis,” News of the World, “Apollo 13,” Toy Story, and more. The scene in which Hanks danced with his co-star Robert Loggia on that huge keyboard in the FAO's Schwartz toy store became one of the iconic cinematographic images of the 1980s and earned him his first nomination for best actor, both for the Golden Globe and for Oscar. After being denied entry to a carnival attraction because he was too short, Josh Baskin, 12, sticks a coin in a guessing machine and wishes to be big.
He gets a ticket that reads: “Your wish has been fulfilled” and, of course, when he wakes up the next day, Josh is suddenly a tall man in his 30s (Hanks) and quickly despairs to undo the spell. More Rogers than the average movie favorite man? Hanks is creepy as the iconic children's television presenter of the Marielle Heller biographical drama, which focuses on the friendship that Fred Rogers struck up with troubled journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys plays a character based on Tom Junod, writer of Esquire). The role returned Hanks to the Oscar race after 19 years of drought, earning him additional nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, BAFTA, SAG and Critics Choice Awards. One of Hanks' most critically acclaimed films, “Apollo 13”, focuses on the third American mission to take a man to the Moon, a mission that was plagued by possible disasters when, along the way, an explosion on board endangered the mission and threatened to end the lives of the astronauts in the capsule. Like Commander Jim Lovell, leader of the team of astronauts on board, Hanks is able to suggest that momentary panic, when something potentially catastrophic happens, recovers to regain calm and calm in order to protect his crew, whose lives are in danger, as well as to calm people who are on the ground who try to bring them home safe and sound.
Hanks won his first Academy Award for Best Actor in this Jonathan Demme drama, the first major studio film to address the AIDS crisis. To play Andrew Beckett, a senior associate at a major Philadelphia law firm trying to hide the fact that he has AIDS, Hanks lost a staggering 26 pounds with the film, which helped convince the audience that he was really sick. When Beckett is fired from his law firm, he hires homophobic personal injury lawyer Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), who must face his fear of gays and their illness. In addition to his Oscar, Hanks won his second Golden Globe for this performance.
Arguably Tom Hanks' most beloved performance was his voice work as Sheriff Woody Pride in all four “Toy Story” movies. Woody, the protagonist of all the toys in young Andy Davis's room and Andy's personal favorite, has all the special qualities of many of Hanks' live-action heroes: he's courageous, committed and determined to do the right thing, even if he sometimes shows some kind of envy toward Buzz Lightyear. When Andy leaves for college at the end of “Toy Story 3”, the toys are given to a new owner, a kindergarten girl named Bonnie, and Woody must face the concern of not being as needed and loved by Bonnie as he was with Andy. Another iconic role for Hanks, this one earned him his second consecutive Oscar for best actor.
There's no question that Robert Zemeckis's direction and Eric Roth's screenplay had a lot to do with the quality of the final film, but I think Hanks' performance is the main force behind the film's longevity. He never interprets Forrest as stupid, slow, or silly, although there is something simple about him in the best sense of the word. There is a purity in him, he is loving, trusting and curious about the world, without a deceitful bone in his body. We should all be as good as Forrest.
Although Hanks has achieved some of his greatest triumphs as part of an ensemble (such as in “Saving Private Ryan”), in “Cast Away” he offers perhaps his most difficult performance in what is essentially a solo show. On a flight where Chuck Noland (Hanks), a FedEx engineer, barely survives when his plane crashes into the sea, he must remain alone alive on an unknown island. In 1998 to film the plump Chuck in scenes leading up to the accident. Then production stopped for a year so he could lose weight and make his scenes on the island more believable and heartbreakingly believable.
With this performance, Hanks won his fourth Golden Globe for Best Actor and received his fifth Oscar nomination and his sixth nomination to the SAG.
