ACTOR TOM HANKS NOT ALWAYS FRIENDLY

ON FILM SETS

RELEASES HIS FIRST NOVEL

Mr. Hanks was talking about his first novel, The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece, which is partly about making a blockbuster superhero movie. The Forrest Gump star has revealed his novel features a series of characters, including an overbearing and highly obstructive male actor who disrupts and delays filming.

"I've behaved like this on a film set, admits Hanks. Not everyone is at their best every day on a film set. I've had difficult days where I was trying to be a professional when my life was falling apart in more ways than one and I had to be funny and charming and loving…and that's the last thing I feel."

The All-Nighter in Seattle actor then spoke of the "deadly sin in the film industry" of delay.

"What can't happen on a film is that someone can't play with the schedule, the shooting time or the budget, he said, before adding:

You'd be surprised how many people know they can get away with doing it anyway, because they're carrying the movie on their shoulders."

In the novel, he refers to actors who are "whiners, psychological wrecks, alcoholics on the wagon, drug addicts off the wagon...and more than a few talent feuds".

Hanks unsurprisingly didn't take the opportunity to divulge particular examples or offer specific mea culpa.

The Making of Another Motion Picture Masterpiece was released on May 9, 2023. Although it is Hanks' first novel, it is his second work of fiction, following his 2017 short story collection, Matters of Character.

He will also star in Wes Anderson's next film, Asteroid City, which will be released on June 21, 2023.