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Tom Hanks developed a keen interest in space exploration at the same time he became fascinated with movies. According to him, the two pursuits hold equal power in creating a sense of awe for him.
His first realization occurred when he attended a viewing of Stanley Kubrick’s movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He remembers the exact day – a Sunday in November of 1968 when the Oakland Raiders defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. He was just 12 years old at the time.
Kubrick’s film had a significant impact – “it completely blew my mind” – as it was the first time he realized that movies could be more than just for entertainment; they could also utilize unique methods to tell a story. In addition to the surprising innovation in style, the subject matter itself was compelling: “The movie portrayed this romantic idea of a person in a desolate environment,” he explains. “I had previously been interested in the space program, but it wasn’t until I saw that film that I became enamored with its artistry and romance.”
The second realization occurred a month after the first, when the Apollo 8 spacecraft was broadcasting a live Christmas event from orbit around the moon. Hanks remembers the moment vividly, exclaiming “Whoa!” as he watched on TV. He realized that he was seeing the entire Earth, and that he was currently located on that very planet, although he was only able to see the dark side. He was at his mother’s house, celebrating Christmas, and although they had a color TV, they were watching in black and white. This experience caused a shift in his perspective once again.
As a child, he tried to experience zero gravity by sitting on the bottom of a small pool and breathing through a hose. However, it would be a stretch to say that he had a specific goal to become an astronaut or a movie star at the age of 12. He admits, “I didn’t have any ambitions, except maybe to kiss Marie from my class or make Dorothy laugh.” He understood that science was necessary for space travel but he was not a studious student. However, he did possess a vivid imagination without knowing that the ideas in his head would later become storyboards for movies.
During his childhood, Hanks spent a lot of time working on his personal storyboards. He later incorporated these memories into his novel, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, where he explored the origins of a superhero blockbuster back to a comic book created by a young boy searching for a father figure 70 years prior. Hanks’ own parents separated when he was five years old. He resided with his father, who was an army veteran and often changed jobs and locations in California, working as a cook. Hanks remembers himself as a boy who was often left to his own devices. He would ride buses around Oakland or visit his mother during school breaks. As a teenager, Hanks continued to search for stability by gazing at the night sky and even skipped school to watch broadcasts about the Apollo program long after the historic moon landing on July 20, 1969.
“He mentioned that Apollo 17 was the most recent mission. It was truly remarkable to see the two astronauts so far away from the spacecraft. I couldn’t believe that while I was sitting here, they were casually taking a walk on the moon. However, I seemed to be the only one still in awe of it all. I even tried to call my parents to come watch with me, but they were too preoccupied with their own unhappy lives. Even at school, no one seemed interested. It was as if I had a personal connection with the events happening up there.”
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Tom Hanks is sharing all of this information with me in an upstairs office at Lightroom, a multimedia space led by artists in King’s Cross, London. We are seated in desk chairs next to a window that is being pounded by rain. Hanks arrived a few days ago from New York, but his trip was postponed due to a severe cold he was battling. He is here now because he is determined to reignite the enthusiasm he had for things when he was 12 years old. Starting next week, Lightroom will showcase The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks.
As I sit here, I am aware that Hanks has the ability to make you believe in anything through his profession. Despite his lingering cold and the gloomy London morning, he genuinely appears excited about narrating this experience. He has visited the impressive David Hockney exhibit at Lightroom multiple times since its opening in February. “I was not expecting to be fully immersed in it,” he admits. “The scale of the room and the multitude of images surrounding you…it’s overwhelming.” He sees this as a new realm for both art and entertainment.
“He mentions that he has created television programs and documentaries centered around the moon landings. He also worked on the film ‘Apollo 13’ and an Imax version named ‘Magnificent Desolation.’ However, he believes that Lightroom adds a new perspective to the subject, and there is only one location capable of achieving this.”
The project has an added sense of urgency. After a gap of over 50 years, astronauts will set foot on the moon once again in 2025 as part of Nasa’s Artemis program. The first four members of the Nasa mission have been selected, including the first woman, Christina Koch, and the first person of color, Victor Glover.
Hanks makes comparisons between the circumstances of their mission and those of Neil Armstrong’s team in 1969. “Which specific year am I referring to? A war is raging that has captured the attention of the entire world. Pollution in the air and water has reached dangerous levels that could be lethal. Political differences are causing families to be unable to eat meals together. The Middle East is facing a severe crisis…”
He implies that this was all occurring during that time as well, but for a change, people all over the world tuned in to their televisions to witness a true human miracle. “When was the last time you watched the news and saw something positive occur? July 20, 1969 was a unique occasion where humanity was celebrated.”
Hanks has been discussing his Lightroom project with the Artemis crew. Does he believe their mission will have a comparable impact to the landings 50 years ago?
He admits that he does not know. However, he recently visited Nasa and there was a discussion about the discovery of water on the moon. The statement was that there is evidence of water, which is still a significant finding even if it is not the same as actually finding water.
I wonder if Hanks enjoys stargazing at home.
He states that he spends more time observing planets than stars using his two telescopes. On clear nights when guests are over for a meal, he invites them to view Saturn through the telescope and they are amazed by what they see.
Hanks himself is an ordained minister – for a $35 fee – in the Universal Life Church, the free-thinking organisation that welcomes all faiths, whose guiding principle is the catch-all: “Do what is right.” How do his beliefs inform his interest in the heavens?
He grins. “My belief system is simply this: I will accept the unknown,” he explains. “I can vividly recall the moment when I first beheld the Milky Way with my own two eyes. I was visiting my mother’s home in Red Bluff, California and ventured out to visit my sister who lived on an almond farm outside of town. With no moon or artificial lights to obscure my view, I was greeted by a breathtaking sight. And it didn’t make me feel insignificant or small. In fact, I felt magnificent. I would question anyone’s doubts and insecurities if they gazed upon the boundless beauty of the sky and felt lonely.”
Hanks and fellow actor Rita Wilson have been married for 35 years. He has four children, two from his previous marriage. He believes that having a serious conversation with family or friends is best done on a warm night, while laying on soft grass and looking up at the sky. By doing so, you may see satellites passing by. While camping in the Sierra, Hanks and his friends were able to witness the International Space Station passing over them. It was so clear that they could almost see the solar panels. Hanks then mentioned to his friends that there are currently six human beings on the space station, and they could possibly be eating chicken soup at that moment.
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As I converse with Hanks, I can’t help but feel like he’s an old friend. I’m familiar with his face, as if I’ve known him for a long time. Over the course of his 46-year career, Hanks has appeared in 75 films, and I’m sure many of you can easily recall at least a dozen of them. He is one of the most authentic and relatable Hollywood stars, in large part due to his portrayal of American values on screen, much like the legendary Jimmy Stewart.
The ability to showcase the remarkable achievements of ordinary individuals was firmly established in a series of films during the mid-90s, including his consecutive Oscar-winning performances in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. These successes ultimately led to him being asked, for the first time in 1995, what kind of movie he truly desired to create. He opted to take on Apollo 13, a story that studios were hesitant to produce due to its predictable ending. His portrayal of astronaut Jim Lovell, who held the record for most space travel at the time, set the tone for the latter half of his career. He had diligently studied Lovell’s character, drawing from his previous research on Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
According to the speaker, he did not see these men as superheroes because they seemed like ordinary individuals. Buzz Aldrin was balding and could have been mistaken for a dentist, while Mike Collins resembled a biology teacher. Neil Armstrong could have been someone’s father in the neighborhood. However, the speaker acknowledges that these men were not only brave, but also experts in their field. He has spoken to many people who have traveled to space, both from the time of the moon landing and the present day, and they all share a similar sentiment of thinking it would be a cool job. Therefore, the speaker’s admiration was not based on hero worship, but rather on the historic significance of their achievements.
Hanks has found a calling in portraying men who exemplify “the right stuff” in different ways. He has been drawn to characters such as Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Captain Richard Philips, who was taken hostage by Somali pirates, and Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who saved his passengers by making an emergency landing on the Hudson River. He also played the role of television host Fred Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. It can be argued that Hanks’ career has been focused on portraying characters that offer a counterpoint to our cynical society, harkening back to the optimism of the Kennedy era and the Apollo missions.
He recoils slightly at the idea, refusing to be pigeonholed. “I have to decline,” he states. “Because I prefer to believe that all the characters I portray have experienced significant struggles and setbacks. What I seek is material that is intricate. For instance, even though Sully saved everyone’s life, as he shared with me, his own life was filled with misery and anguish until he was exonerated by the National Transportation Safety Board for not being at fault. All of that [anguish] is not depicted in the film. However, I portrayed it all, you know? I am deeply affected by the roles I play.”
He may have become accustomed to being perceived as just a kind person, causing him to not fully understand my question. Let me try again. My thought was that there is always the drive to find the true essence of humanity in our actions, even in individuals like Tom Parker in the Elvis Presley story.
I understand where you’re coming from because I believe it’s a universal experience. When I was a young actor, I played a role in Hamlet. Every night, I heard Hamlet advise the actors to “hold the mirror up to nature”. And every time, I realized that that’s the essence of the job. Deep down, we are all a complex mix of potential and past experiences. We all have the opportunity to learn and make the right choices, or to fail and struggle. Now at 67 years old, I have revisited this concept many times, in both lighthearted and serious movies. But at their core, they all explore the same human emotions: yesterday was tough, today is better, and tomorrow holds promise. We are all on this journey together.
I believe it would be beneficial to have this mindset. However, it may not be easy to maintain this optimism as we approach another election year dominated by Trump in the United States.
I am a non-professional historian. I have numerous instances of voters making the correct decisions in my possession. However, there are also numerous instances where this did not occur.
Which historical event does he consider the most valuable for comprehending the current divisive political situation?
A notable example in American history is Senator Joe McCarthy, who was unethical and power-hungry. He seized upon the idea of communist infiltration in the government and gained attention from the media. This led to two years of chaos and suffering for many individuals. His actions were driven by self-interest and ultimately, someone had to confront him on national television: “Do you have no sense of morality?” It is evident that a lot can change in a year, from the absence of a moon landing to a successful one. Therefore, I have faith in the system and believe that there will always be a moment where someone will call out for decency and the public will take notice.
While he repeats that phrase, I am struck by the idea that there is no other voice more suitable to make a plea for decency. He is not one to sugarcoat his words, and it also marks the end of his speech (signaled by the arrival of a bowl of tomato soup – Hanks’s lunch as he goes over the final technical issues with the Lightroom team). He continues to stay in character for a few more minutes, discussing our mutual love for the football team Aston Villa (he has been spotted at Villa Park a few times in recent years – although he admits that he chose his allegiance based on the club name “sounding like a holiday destination”). “If you want to feel hopeful,” he says with a smile, “just look at what we have accomplished this season. Anything is possible! Up the Villa!”
I am compelled to share his faith in this matter, as I do in most things.
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“The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks” will be showcased at Lightroom in London N1 from December 6th to April 21st.
Source: theguardian.com
