Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks Born in California, Tom Hanks grew up in what he calls a "fractured" family. His parents were pioneers in the development of marriage dissolution law in that state, and Tom moved around a lot, living with a succession of step families. No problems, no abuse, no alcoholism just a confused childhood. He had no acting experience in college and, in fact, credits the fact that he couldn't get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started. He met his second wife, actress Rita Wilson on the set of his television show Bosom Buddies. Tom Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander James A. Lovell in Apollo 13, Captain John H. Miller in Saving Private Ryan, Joe Fox in You've Got Mail, Chuck Noland in Cast Away, and voicing the character Woody in the Toy Story series.
Tom Hanks has always enjoyed a challenge. After all, his break out role came playing a woman in TV's Bosom Buddies. He co starred with a volleyball in Cast Away and played a gay man with AIDS in Philadelphia at a time (1993) when playing gay in Hollywood was thought to be a career killer. So, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Hollywood star is bringing out his newest movie, Larry Crowne about a man who loses his job due to the recession, at a time when so many people are out of work. To heighten the risk, Hanks not only stars in the movie, he directed it and co wrote the screenplay with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" writer Nia Vardalos. Making "Larry Crowne" a box office hit will be a challenge to say the least, especially during the summer when movie theaters are filled with big budget, effects filled films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon. But Hanks feels that he and his movie, which co stars Julia Roberts, are up to the challenge, and he thinks "Larry Crowne" has one key secret for its potential success. It's not about loss, so much as about hope for the future. He said that he was competing in a marketplace in which the thing he might have going for them is the true battle against cynicism. Hanks plays the title character who is fired from a Walmart like store where he's worked for decades. Divorced, with a mortgage and a gas guzzling SUV, he enrolls in college to start over, taking classes taught by a teacher,Julia Roberts with her own problems. He sells his house, rides a scooter to save money and works at a diner to make ends meet. Yet rather than being depressed about things, he's got this amazing new forceful presence in his life and he can honestly say.
But to people in the real world struggling with unemployment, a film like "Larry Crowne" may not be the type of escapism they want to see even with its lighter tones and characters played by comedian Cedric the Entertainer and former "That 70s Show" sitcom star Wilmer Valderrama. Last year, writer/director John Wells released a feature film he wrote and directed, "The Company Men," about how three men deal with joblessness, how it affects their families and their status in the community. "Company Men" starred Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner and had an estimated, low budget of $15 million. Still, it grossed only $4.4 million in U.S. ticket sales hardly a hit. To be fair, it was a rather dark drama. Vardalos said that despite the subject matter, "Larry Crowne" is not a "downer" movie. She told that This was an uplifting movie and it's not out of the realm of the ordinary and also said It's what can happen if you keep your heart open. And Hanks is quick to point out that very often when people step out of one life situation and into another, they find the change can be very life affirming. Hanks said that That actually happened in the real world and it's also a glamorous. There can be little argument that when Hanks spies a challenge, he responds pretty well himself. After all, that gay role in "Philadelphia" the one that could've been a career killer earned him an Oscar. And it wasn't his last.
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