Why, and when was it decided that Tom Hanks be cast as EVERY hero of the last century?

I had no idea he was Jewish.

Tom Hanks isn't Jewish. Not that it should even matter, he's an actor.

You however sure sound like an anti-Semite OP.

R1 He's not. I have no idea where the hell OP got that piece of information. Maybe they are one of those people who assumes everyone in the entertainment business just has to be Jewish.

I'm sick of him too, OP.

He's not Jewish.

But he does play those heroic roles a lot. Sully is another one.

Like Jack Lemmon in the 50s-70s. Inexplicable. Boring, uninteresting average guy. So many more worthwhile and charismatic people.

Well who else is there? Bradley Cooper as Sully?

He didn't get my vote, OP. I've always found him a little creepy. I just don't buy the nice guy act. How he got so far in the business I have no idea.

I miss wacky, 80s Tom Hanks. The Money Pit, Bachelor Party, Big, ...

I'm waiting for his Eleanor Roosevelt.

He’s Catholic. Is that worse, OP?

He's safe. He's boring, common, average looking, he's nice, not overly intelligent or sophisticated, ie. non threatening....he resonates with the common man of middle America, thus his success.

You shut your whore mouth about Jack Lemmon, R6.

Bland, like Mary Tyler Moore in her TV show. Other characters could be colorful or grotesque or extreme in some way and contrast against Mary, the normal one that the audience could relate to. There's a place for that -- if everyone on screen were Walter Matthau or Sue Ann Nivens, they'd soon become shrill rather than fascinating.

Tom Hanks IS Helen Keller!

Meryl Steep can't handle them all...

He and Tom Cruise both have excellent reputations as far as being easy to work with, and therefore they've had similarly long and successful careers.

I could have sworn he’s Jewish! I’m sorry but the point I was attempting to make was not his ethnicity or faith, but that he’s always playing these sort of pious Christian American hero types. It’s almost a trope at this point.

R11, LOL! Yes! Much worse!

Because he can.

Speaking of Jack Lemmon, I'm in the middle of watching his Oscar-winning performance in Mister Roberts, and he is much more than a bland everyman

Did you have to add Jewish to your complaint?

The comparison isn't Jack Lemmon, it's Jimmy Stewart.

And he doesn't have to take those roles either - he does it because he WANTS people to idolize him as the good guy. I find it a little nauseating.

Has Hanks ever played a true villain? I really can't think of an instance where he did and that's starting to trouble me. Usually, everyone plays a bad guy at one point or another.

I liked him in comedies. Ever since Gump he has failed to hold my interest.

Hanks was a villain in The Ladykillers.

It helps that he is almost scandal free. and doesn't take himself too seriously. But he really accumulated his reputation over a number of years. His start in comedies made people like him better when he started getting acclaim.

I looked this up out of curiosity IMDBs opinion about actors in his age group:

Best actors in their 60s Tom Hanks. Producer | Cast Away. ... Denzel Washington. Actor | Fences. ... Liam Neeson. Actor | Kinsey. ... Jeff Bridges. Actor | The Big Lebowski. ... Bill Murray. Actor | Lost in Translation. ... Samuel L. Jackson. ... Tommy Lee Jones. Actor | The Fugitive. ... John Travolta. Actor | Pulp Fiction.

I am just as tired of Forest Gump as everybody else. But could you see Travolta playing that role? Wait, now that I think of it........

I was about to say Tommy Lee Jones was in his 60s twenty years ago. Nope, he's fucking 73. Damn.

(R17) I heard the opposite about Tammy. I heard he's a controlling asshole. Who tries to put his Scientology beliefs on others. That is probably why he's doing lame action movies in his 60s.

I thought that Tom Hanks never plays villains because it’s off brand for him, and he wants to be remembered as a Henry Fonda/Jack Lemmon/oh sucks kind of guy.

Cloud Atlas One of his roles in that is a murderous thief

With bad teeth.

I don't think studios want to cast him in anything that makes him look bad

[Quote] I miss wacky, 80s Tom Hanks. The Money Pit, Bachelor Party, Big, ...

The Burbs.

Splash

Wasn't he a bad guy in Philadelphia, with all his cum-guzzling and bareback ass-fucking?

He's the producer of Greyhound, isn't he? So he cast himself. He's got that middle-class, middle-aged guy reverence for WWII stories.

BIG was his best role- runnign about in his underwear-that tummy, the legs, feet.....

The American public loves Tom Hanks., very much the same way they loved Jimmy Stewart . He has great appeal to lot of people in an Everyman sort of way. So what? Why is that lookedat as something evil or wrong?

You have to admit, M is much more masculine-looking than Hanks. Although Hanks can act rings around her.

The Qanon crew are convinced he's a child murdering pedophile. So there's that.

He's overcast and too soft and wispy to play the classic old school hero. Thought he was the weak link in Apollo 13 (Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise look like the real deals). He also made caused many eyes to roll in Road to Perdition where he played the supposedly scary black-hearted hitman.

[quote] I've always found him a little creepy. I just don't buy the nice guy act. How he got so far in the business I have no idea.

Me too, R8. Felt the same way about Bill Cosby. Was a young child then, and when his commercials for pudding pops came on, I would get up as a toddler and turn the channel. My family was mystified. I always got chills with Cosby. I do now with Hanks. Can’t explain why.

[quote] The American public loves Tom Hanks., very much the same way they loved Jimmy Stewart .

Just saw Harvey with Jimmy recently. Though I didn’t get the “creepy” chills with him like I do with Hanks.

[quote] The Qanon crew are convinced he's a child murdering pedophile. So there's that.

Don’t ascribe to the Qanon conspiracy, is there anything about Hanks that gives credence to something hidden beneath a facade? My spidey senses have a good track record.

Many posters on DL have said he's an alcoholic.

I don’t believe any of that Qanon nonsense. But I do believe that Hanks is CIA, involved with psyop designed to divert attention from the agency’s myriad dirty operations eg. moon hoax, JFK assassination

R44 is typing from an insane asylum.

He's coming up in A Man Called Ove.

[quote] I could have sworn he’s Jewish! I’m sorry but the point I was attempting to make was not his ethnicity or faith, but that he’s always playing these sort of pious Christian American hero types. It’s almost a trope at this point.

You still sound like an anti-Semite, OP. And, no, I'm not Jewish.

I loved how Ricky Gervais, at the 2020 Golden Globes, skewered Hollywood's sacred cows.

I never thought about Tom Hanks until he clutched his pearls at the GG awards. He is firmly entrenched and a major beneficiary of the existing hierarchy.

Another troll attempting to be insightful taking down an consummately competent and successful screen actor in a career of astonishing range.

I've been watching The Green Mile, it's pretty good but funny to hear Hanks' accent

Thank you R28 for not laying into me about TLJ for being a few years out of his sixties. I love him. I looked at his wiki and Wow! some of the highlights for me:

>Harvard Grad on needs based Scholarship before that route wasn't just a way to improve your school's statistics. >cum laude with a with a senior thesis on the mechanics of Catholicism in the works of Flannery O'Connor. .>Guard on Harvard's undefeated 68 football team and first team all-ivy selection. >Fluent in Spanish. >Polo player and enthusiast. >Court side seats for the Spurs. >Upstaging Harrison Ford in The Fugitive.

I think I would still spit shine his boots for him at the end of every day if given the chance.

I pretty much love Tom Hanks. I like most everything he's been in. His D-Day movie was astounding. And he was behind the Memorial for WWII guys in Washington, DC. Nobody else could make it happen.

So he's the go-to actor for every lead role? Hmmmm, I've never heard of such a thing.

I'm glad he never made a superhero type movie

R24 He was also a villain in Road to Perdition (but turned into a hero by the end of the movie).

Same old, same old Hanks. No thanks Hanks.

I had a friend who was a big fan of Jimmy Stewart and he liked Hanks for the same reasons. I like Stewart a lot too and have nothing against Hanks, but I gave up on him with Forrest Gump. Not that he didn't do a good job but the character was just so annoying -- I guess it's to Hanks' credit that I was too annoyed to ever watch the actor again.

Agreed....he is gross...tired of him and his rah rah war movies...and the Parkland movie he produced sayin it was only Oswald who shot jfk....he seems like a mouthpiece for the FBI/intelligencia

[quote] he is gross

R58 has it. He is gross.

Even Stewart could play neurotic and psychotic.

But now that I know Hanks is Jewish I can never look at him the same way again.

Jimmy Stewart has that same aww shucks aspect as Hanks. Some like it, some don’t.

Stewart did it better.

No R60 Hanks it not a Jew: that's the whole point; Jimmy is the Jew. Jeese.

Jimmy Stewart was Jewish?!!! Who's next Henry Fonda? Nobody tell John Ford!

You think taking a Scots/Italian name means you're not a Jew? Ford knew all about it, as a Jew himself.

[quote][R44] is typing from an insane asylum.

r45, some of these posts make me feel like I'm reading them from an insane asylum.

Jimmy Jew was a good friend of Cary Grant, himself a Jew (Bristol).

apparently a bunch of casting bigshots conspired to piss off the OP. They certainly succeeded.

Doesn't Henry Winker hate him? Didn't it have to do with Hanks appearing on Happy Days?

No need for casting bigots here

This entire thread is triggering me.

[quote] Doesn't Henry Winker hate him?

Anyone else have info on this?

If Henry doesn’t like Hanks, this is telling.

r72, Google is your friend.

Look, get over it. In Hollywood they are all Jews. So what?

Thanks, Iowa Johnny.

That helps.

Crystallizes my thoughts on Hanks.

Who is Henry Winkler?

Tom Hanks should be cancelled for mocking trans people in Bosom Buddies. His performance wounds!

Yea, him and his hard on for war movies....is he a front for the govt???

Plus so much of his stuff is corney as fuk

R73 Thanks for the post. R69 triggered my curiosity.

Michael Keaton can play the same roles as Hanks. Throw him a few bones,, Hollywood

(R12) You are totally correct! Hanks is everyman.

[quote] ([R12]) You are totally correct! Hanks is everyman.

Or is he?

Asking as an American.