Current:Home > InvestTom Hanks has starred in dozens of movies. Now he's written a novel, too-LoTradeCoin
Tom Hanks has starred in dozens of movies. Now he's written a novel, too
View Date:2024-12-23 20:38:41
The numbers speak for themselves: More than 100 movies in over 45 years of acting. Now Tom Hanks is drawing on all that experience to craft a story in a very different medium. He used some of the pandemic slowdown to write a novel. Titled The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, it tells the story of a comic strip that becomes a multimillion-dollar superhero movie.
The book spans seven decades, starting in 1947 when a U.S. Marine who served as a flamethrower returns from fighting in World War II. The uncle makes such a strong impression on his 5-year-old nephew that he makes him the superhero in a comic strip; eventually, that comic becomes the foundation of a blockbuster movie franchise, set in the present day.
The novel explores every step of the making of a movie: from a difficult leading actor, to eccentric writers and countless behind-the-scenes workers. Hanks says fleshing out the details was not hard for him. "I've got anecdotes galore," he tells Morning Edition's A Martinez.
All the actions and characters in his novel are drawn from the real-life experience of making a movie, he says. And he purposely focuses not only on the stars, but on the people working behind the scenes.
"If someone is going to ask me what is the surefire way that I get to Hollywood, I would have two answers," Hanks says. "One is as Bette Davis said, take Fountain [Boulevard]. But the other one is to solve problems."
Ultimately, Hanks hopes to challenge people's perceptions about how movies are made.
"Most people think that a movie reels out like a Broadway play does or a performance of an opera. Everybody knows exactly what they are, where they need to be, how they need to do it," he says. "But movies are a long series of accidents that you don't expect, as well as, occasionally, something that goes off exactly as you planned. It's all things all at the same time."
Hanks offered this statement about the ongoing Hollywood writers strike: "I am a member of every guild there is, and there is no doubt that the economics of our business has changed in the last few years. These changes affect everybody in the making of a Motion Picture Masterpiece — and something needs to be worked out now."
Reena Advani and Miranda Kennedy contributed editing.
veryGood! (826)
Related
- Taylor Swift Politely Corrects Security’s Etiquette at Travis Kelce’s Chiefs Game
- New Mexico mother accused of allowing her 5-year-old son to slowly starve to death
- Tesla 'full self-driving' in my Model Y: Lessons from the highway
- San Francisco sea lions swarm Pier 39, the most gathered in 15 years: See drone video
- Mandy Moore Captures the Holiday Vibe With These No Brainer Gifts & Stocking Stuffer Must-Haves
- 'Dance Moms: The Reunion': How to watch Lifetime special and catching up with stars
- New Mexico mother accused of allowing her 5-year-old son to slowly starve to death
- Majority of Americans over 50 worry they won't have enough money for retirement: Study
- Bill on school bathroom use by transgender students clears Ohio Legislature, heads to governor
- Jockeys Irving Moncada, Emmanuel Giles injured after falling off horses at Churchill Downs
Ranking
- Ready-to-eat meat, poultry recalled over listeria risk: See list of affected products
- A $5,000 check won by Billie Jean King 50 years ago helped create Women’s Sports Foundation
- 'Horrific scene': New Jersey home leveled by explosion, killing 1 and injuring another
- North Carolina Senate OKs $500 million for expanded private school vouchers
- Father sought in Amber Alert killed by officer, daughter unharmed after police chase in Ohio
- USWNT great Kelley O'Hara announces she will retire at end of 2024 NWSL season
- Cowboys QB Dak Prescott won't face charges for alleged sexual assault in 2017
- Pennsylvania man convicted of kidnapping a woman, driving her to a Nevada desert and suffocating her
Recommendation
-
When do new episodes of 'Cobra Kai' Season 6 come out? Release date, cast, where to watch
-
Man found guilty of murder in 2020 fatal shooting of Missouri officer
-
South Carolina Senate approves ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors
-
Prosecutors urge judge to hold Trump in contempt again for more gag order violations
-
Pistons' Ausar Thompson cleared to play after missing 8 months with blood clot
-
Surprise! Young boy has emotional reaction when he unboxes a furry new friend
-
Small plane crashed into residential Georgia neighborhood, killing pilot
-
Subway offers buy one, get one free deal on footlong subs for a limited time: How to get yours