EXCLUSIVE: Tom Hanks Talks Working with Wes Anderson on ‘Asteroid City’
Tom Hanks stars in the new film, Asteroid City from director Wes Anderson. Hanks opened up about working with the famed director, what it was like on set, and so much more. Check out what he had to say below.
On wanting to work with director, Wes Anderson: “I met Wes at a restaurant in Rome about 15 years ago. We just talked about — we didn’t talk about anything at all. But I don’t know if I said at that point, ‘Hey, come on, man, come on. Let me into that rep company of yours. Give me a call.’ And this film came about literally because of a lovely email that said, ‘Would you like to come and join us?’ And I said, ‘Yeah. Sure.’
On being introduced to the project: “What is odd is he [Anderson] sends you a version of the movie that doesn’t really need you. It’s a animatic of the film that he put together. So you see a complete animatic version of the movie, which I saw, and I called Wes up and said, ‘Well, I’m in, but I don’t see how you need anybody to do this now.’ It looked like Beauty and the Beast to us. And all this stuff that you hear about Wes turned out to be true. And I haven’t seen a Wes Anderson movie that I didn’t wish that I was in. So it was great to be a part of this. And the role was great. I think Wes used the reference of, ‘We’re looking for a retired Ronald Reagan type.’ And I go, ‘I’m your man.'”
On what set was like: “You know those old movies about Hollywood where they’re on the lot, and some days there’s a cowboy, and there’s a showgirl, and there’s a roman gladiator. That’s what it’s like hanging around getting ready to work. We’re all in our costumes all day long. We’re all dressed in these different things. We’re all on hold ready to go, to go do the work on the set. We’re just incredibly focused and concentrated.”
On any hesitancies he faced while filming: “I wondered if we got to have ideas. Do we get to come in and say, “You know, I was thinking about this?” And we asked some of the veterans of it. “Do we get to say, you know, ‘How about this?’ And they said, “Yeah, sure. Sure, sure.’ And we would, but then Wes would say, ‘Well, we don’t have enough set to shoot that.’ But I found Wes to be just as flexible as anybody would be, provided you’re not, going south so far out of the realm of what he’s going for.”
Asteroid City is now in theaters!
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo credit: Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features