When you see Tom Hanks on screen, it appears the art of acting comes to him pretty easily. And, we’re sure having that much talent does make it pretty simple at times, but not when Clint Eastwood is around.
Tom Hanks is one of the best actors of all time, has starred in many of the best movies of all time, and has worked with some of the best directors around. But, when he took on the lead role in one of the best Clint Eastwood movies, he was given a pretty tough ride by the Hollywood legend.
Hanks went as far as to describe his treatment as being worked like a horse on Sully. Now, it may be one of the best movies based on a true story, but that doesn’t sound like a very nice experience, does it?
Hanks had the following to say on The Graham Norton Show back in 2016: “He treats his actors like horses. Because when he doing Rawhide [in the 1960s]… a Western, he had all these old directors who made a big deal about yelling ‘action! We’re rolling, all right, stand by everybody ready, action!’ And every time they would do that the horses would bolt. So when you’re in a Clint Eastwood movie you don’t even know the camera is rolling and you just hear over your shoulder, ‘All right, go ahead,’ [in a very quiet voice].”
Eastwood’s quiet demeanor, which he learned on the set of some of the best Westerns so as not to scare the horses, is clearly something which stuck with him. But, though it sounds nice and gentle, Hanks actually explained that it was “intimidating as hell.”
Perhaps that’s the voice, or perhaps it’s simply a side-effect of working under the watchful eye of a Hollywood legend. The Western movie veteran is known for his rigidity and rules, especially when it comes to directing, and it appears that reputation is justified.
The movie that the pair worked on together, Sully, is one of Clint Eastwood’s better new movies and also stands as one of the best Tom Hanks movies of recent times too.
For more on the biggest names in Hollywood, take a look at our picks for the best Steven Spielberg movies and the best Denzel Washington movies. And, here’s a funny story about how Clint Eastwood refused to leave a movie set even though it was on fire.