Tom Hanks has been one of everyone’s favorites since time immemorial. Not only do we love him for the plethora of roles he has done in his career but also for the fact that the man is a breath of fresh air in an industry that can get pretty toxic. In fact, there are many renowned actors who are just as much in awe of Tom Hanks as us, including Bryan Cranston.
With his intense acting skills and a knack for bringing complicated characters to life, Bryan Cranston became a household name, best known for his role in Breaking Bad. He has worked with Tom Hanks many times including projects like Saving Private Ryan and Asteroid City. The two have also been in a television miniseries together where Bryan Cranston portrayed astronaut Buzz Aldrin, a role given to him by Tom Hanks.
Bryan Cranston has Tom Hanks to Thank for This Role
Last month, Bryan Cranston appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast where host Josh Horowitz brought up the topic of Tom Hanks stating, “I notice on the resume – there’s a lot of Tom Hanks on the Bryan Cranston resume…Was he an early adopter on the Bryan Cranston thing?” To this Cranston replied joking, “I have so much dirt on Tom Hanks, he had to hire me.”
Cranston then went into the account of how Hanks casually called him up asking about his weight and then offered him a role in the television miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon (1998).
“Tom would just call. He called me one day, I was doing an episode of a television show where I was playing an Isaac Mizrahi kind of character. Tom called the set and there was a lot of buzz going around and he said, ‘Are you still thin?’ And I said, ‘How dare you. Okay, yes.’ And he said, ‘I need you to get on a plane tomorrow and go to Orlando, Florida to start shooting From the Earth to the Moon.’ It just happened so quickly. That was fun to do.”
While Cranston played the role of Buzz Aldrin in the series, Hanks took up the task of playing the host. In the last episode, though, the actor played the role of Jean-Luc Despont, French filmmaker Georges Melies’ assistant. The series went on to receive 3 Primetime Emmy nominations and ended up winning one for Outstanding Miniseries.
Tom Hanks is a Mentor for Bryan Cranston
Cranston was part of The Hollywood Reporter’s live roundtable discussion. He and the other actors present were asked if they had a mentor-like figure in their lives and Cranston knew just the name to take. He talked about how Hanks played a huge role in teaching him how to compose himself and create a positive and welcoming atmosphere on his sets.
“I have known [Hanks] for 30 years, and I’ve watched him on set. Our wives are very good friends, and my wife was in their wedding. So I was able to watch firsthand how a young man who is a star comports himself and treats people and is able to create an atmosphere on the set that is fun and welcoming of thoughts and ideas and get-the-work-done and then, ‘See ya,’ go home. You can have it all. You don’t have to be the tortured actor and make everyone’s life miserable.”
Cranston is one of the many out there who have fallen head over heels for Hanks’ demeanor. Well, we cannot blame him. After all, it’s not every day that you come across someone like Hanks!
You can stream From the Earth to the Moon on Max.
Source: Happy Sad Confused Podcast
