The “magnificent” performances that inspired Tom Hanks
Since the 1980s, Tom Hanks has been a staple of American cinema, typically appearing on our screens as various beloved and friendly characters. Hanks remains one of Hollywood’s most well-known faces, a comforting presence for many who grew up watching him in movies like Forrest Gump and hearing his voice in the Toy Story series.
After landing his first movie role in the horror movie He Knows You’re Alone – a very unconventional genre for Hanks – the actor waited four years until his next project, Splash, an adored romantic comedy where he fell in love with Daryl Hannah’s mermaid character, Madison. The late ‘80s saw Hanks appear in more fairly successful films, like The Money Pit and Dragnet, eventually scoring a role in a film that would shoot him into further mainstream consciousness – Big.
From there, Hanks was on a roll, appearing in movies like A League of Their Own, Philadelphia (for which he won an Oscar), the well-loved romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle and Forrest Gump, which also allowed him to bag an Academy Award. More acclaimed roles continued throughout the ‘90s, with leading parts in Apollo 11, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile securing his mega-star status.
These days, Hanks still appears in many movies, although his Hollywood sweetheart image isn’t as potent as it used to be, with one of his biggest roles in the past few years – the villain-esque Colonel Tom Parker in Elvis – heavily criticised. Still, he is recognised as one of his generation’s most well-respected actors, having featured in several of the ‘90s’ most popular films.
For Hanks, growing up during the New Hollywood era, where cinema was rapidly changing, was hugely influential. Movies like The Godfather, Jaws, Taxi Driver and The Graduate all emerged while he was a teenager and young adult, and many of these films and the actors within them inspired Hanks to immerse himself in the world of cinema. One of his favourites, however, was Midnight Cowboy, directed by John Schlesinger. While the British filmmaker wasn’t widely associated with the revolutionary New Hollywood movement, his film had a very significant impact nonetheless.
The movie, released in 1969, starred Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. The latter played a male prostitute while Hoffman portrayed a conman, with the pair meeting as they attempt to stay afloat in the bustling city of New York. Midnight Cowboy gave us one of the most iconic lines in cinema history, “I’m walking here!”, further cementing its legacy.
Hanks noted its influence over him in an interview with Letterboxd. He explained, “That movie is locked into its era, but again, it is right about today and what drives us, and it has two magnificent performances [Hoffman and Voight] that any young man, if they saw, wanted to play.” The success of Midnight Cowboy was partly responsible for highlighting that audiences were interested in watching movies which featured complex and taboo themes, such as male prostitution and homosexuality, which had not been explicitly explored very widely across cinema before then.