Tom Hanks reveals acting tips he gave son Truman starring in A Man Called Otto together

Virgin Radio

10 Jan 2023, 13:53

Imagine how good it would be if you were an actor and had Tom Hanks as your dad. The Hollywood megastar has given some priceless showbiz advice to his son Truman, who stars in his latest movie A Man Called Otto alongside him.

Forest Gump icon Tom told his 27-year-old son Truman some sterling advice on how to make it. Starring as grumpy widower Otto, Truman is playing the younger version of his dad's lead character.

Tom recently spoke about Truman’s 'tough' first day on set and told Classic FM’s Saturday Night At The Movies: 'I said “That’s your first day? Welcome to the big leagues, my friend, you are playing in the Premiership”.

‘That’s what it requires sometimes. We compared notes but only in the most kind of surreptitious way because so much of being an actor is… look you have to do all the work but don’t show the work. You have to work hard, but you can’t make it look like you’re working hard."

Tom also advised his son to work on body language, to 'turn up on time' and always have 'an idea' in his head.

‘That’s all you can do as an actor and then everything else should take care of itself after that,’ he said.

On the film’s director suggesting Truman try out for the role, Tom said: ‘He’s always developed his own film and he’s always wanted to shoot, he’d like to be a director of photography.

‘So this came along and (it was) Marc Forster who said “Is there any way Truman can just play it? Because he looks like you and he will have the same body language”.

‘And I said, “That’s up to him, man, that’s not an easy ask”. And his mum and I were both ambivalent, meaning like this is up to him, period, the end. So don’t ask us what we think about it. Because we’ll be happy to work with anybody.’ Truman later accepted the role to gain 'experience’.

Producer, singer and actress Rita Wilson, Tom's wife, also composed the Til You’re Home for the movie.

Hanks said: ‘This combination of her artistic sensibilities as a producer and as a songwriter is very much on display.

‘And this is a beautiful song at the end. I hear it in every one of its evolutionary steps. I will hear it as a demo, I will hear it as just piano, I will hear the first orchestration of it.

‘It has to sound like it belongs, at the same time it has to have the lyrics that extend the meaning of the movie and I just thought it had. It’s just number one. But then again, I have all my wife’s records, so I’m a big fan of all of her work.’

Think Tom Hanks watches all his own movies? Think again.