(Credits: Universal Studios)
Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood’s most instantly recognisable figures, existing as the wunderkind of American cinema through an endless list of cult classic performances. From the iconicity of his character in Forrest Gump to the timeless charm of Woody in Toy Story and the crushing loneliness of Castaway, the actor has accumulated a slate of films that few others have come close to, starring in everything from action thrillers to political dramas and endearing love stories like Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail.
Over the years, his credits read like a bucket list of the most sought-after directors in the business, whether it be Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard or Robert Zemeckis, becoming a staple part of their respective filmographies.
But while he is most revered for his work on camera, the actor also attempted to extend his knowledge of the business to the director’s chair, leading him to tread down the complicated path of being an actor, writer and director on one project.
From Bradley Cooper to Halle Berry, few actors have taken on the ultimate Hollywood triple threat: writing, directing, and starring in the same film. Cooper pulled it off with Maestro in 2023, portraying legendary composer Leonard Bernstein and exploring his relationship with long-time partner Felicia. Berry did the same with her 2020 film Bruised, a gritty testament to her strength and resilience as she played a troubled martial arts fighter through a demanding production.
However, Hanks first discovered the highs and lows of the triple-threat challenge in 1996, directing That Thing You Do!, a story about a Pennsylvania band who land a hit and try to keep the momentum going. But that wasn’t the end of the road for Hanks. He revisited the role of writer-director again in 2001 and 2011—the latter resulting in an unexpected collaboration with Julia Roberts, a curious outlier in his filmography.
Larry Crowne follows a man as he tries to reinvent his life after leaving his blue-collar job, enrolling in a local college and attempting to start over. When discussing the film, Hanks said, “Writing a movie and then directing the result of that script is … a personal virus that you have to fight. It’s a fever that you get that takes you over. That’s when it’s hard to go back and forth between being a director who wants to tell a story with a specific sort of sound and look to it, as opposed to the actor just saying, ‘And what am I going to say here exactly and why am I saying it?’ That’s where the battle between being a director and an actor is really fought.”
Many people have struggled with this balance, describing the feeling of being split between multiple responsibilities and juggling contradictory hats, both thinking logically and emotionally as you make decisions about the character and everything else on set. It’s not a balance everyone can find, but Hanks has seemingly found a way around it, even if his films in which he stars only as an actor are more memorable.
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