Tom Hanks has one of the most celebrated filmographies of any actor working today. He’s won just about every major award and has delighted audiences in comedies, dramas, and most other genres for decades. His career is littered with so many films that people would consider classics that it makes it difficult for folks to rank their favorites. Well, with that in mind, which films would Hanks actually rank as his personal favorites?
Speaking on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Tom Hanks was asked to rank his top three favorite Tom Hanks films. And to do so, the actor took a bit of a different angle.
“I would not do it according to the way the movies came out,” explained Hanks. “I’d do it the way of the personal experience I had while doing them.”
And with that caveat, the actor went through his list. Now, you might expect names like Steven Spielberg to get brought up, considering Hanks has starred in a number of the filmmaker’s biggest features. Perhaps even, “That Thing You Do,” since it was such a passion project. Or maybe one of his early hits, when he was just a young actor, like “Big.” Well, you’d be wrong.
First, the actor mentions “A League of Their Own.” His primary reason for picking that film is because of the summer he experienced while filming it, playing baseball and living the small town life with his family. Then, Hanks talks about his experience on “Cast Away,” and what it was like living in Fiji for multiple months and swimming from his island where his family was staying to a boat that would take him to another island to film.
But the most surprising of the three picks from Hanks has to be “Cloud Atlas.” Yes, the Wachowski’s 2012 sci-fi film. When it was released, critics were divided. Though, it has a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, “Cloud Atlas” has reactions from people ranging from being the worst film of that year (and maybe ever?) created to an underrated, misunderstood masterpiece. And for Hanks, he remembers shooting it all around Germany and what that was like.
READ MORE: Tom Hanks Joins Wes Anderson’s New Spain-Set Film
“We shot [‘Cloud Atlas’] on a hope and a dream and nothing but a circle of love…,” said Hanks. “But the work itself, we were part of this big, massive ensemble. Fantastic people who were just trying to do the hardest, best work on a deep throw…that whole movie was such a deep throw that making it was magical.”
Obviously, these films might not all be in the Top 3 Best Tom Hanks Films lists that fans would put together, but it’s definitely interesting to know where the actor himself would rank everything. So, maybe this will start a “Cloud Atlas” resurgence? Probably not.
You can watch the discussion below: