Tom Hanks has some thoughts about movie critics.
The Academy Award-winning actor called people who write about movies “c———s” in an interview with Conan O’Brien.
The two had been discussing how “time” has become a metric for how movies matter after box office numbers and critics’ reviews.
“Then a ton of time goes by, none of that stuff matters anymore, and the movie just exists exactly as it is outside of loser/winner status … and that’s when this stuff comes around,” he explained during an episode of “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.” “This thing that didn’t work back then kind of does work now. Or just the opposite – a thing that was huge back then is a museum piece and doesn’t really speak to anything.”
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Hanks remembered a particular film critic who wasn’t initially a fan of his movie “That Thing You Do!” but later changed their tune.
He told O’Brien, “Let me tell you something about these c———s who write about movies,” eliciting laughter from the podcast co-hosts.
“Can I say that?” Hanks questioned, met with a resounding “Yes.”
“My father writes about movies, and his name is C——–r,” O’Brien joked.
Laughing, Hanks elaborated, “Somebody who wrote about [‘That Thing You Do!’ wrote] that ‘Tom Hanks has to stop hanging around with veterans of TV cause this is just like it’s shot on TV, and it’s not much of anything,’ you know. That same person then wrote about the cult classic ‘That Thing You Do!’ Same exact person. They said, all you need is 20 years between now and then, and it ends up speaking somewhere.”
Hanks added that, as an actor, “that’s the thing we all signed up for. You know that’s the carnival, that’s the contest, right? I got faith in that, that’s ok.”
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Hanks for comment.
Before Hanks found success with movies like “Forrest Gump,” “Cast Away” and “Big,” he was warned that Hollywood is the “most unfair business in the world.”
Hanks, now 68, admitted luck is a big part of making it big as an actor during a conversation with Jay Shetty on an episode of the “On Purpose” podcast.
“That’s one aspect of it, because so much of it requires being in the right place at the right time by choice and by sacrifice, you know, and that’s not easy to do,” the “Philadelphia” star explained.
Hanks gained fame after landing a role in “Splash” in the 1980s. The actor had finished two seasons of “Bosom Buddies” when he grabbed the role. By 1988, he had been nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Big.”
In the 1990s, Hanks earned Academy Awards for “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump.”
Hanks explained his parents’ divorce “fueled” him to become an actor, after spending hours alone traveling back and forth between his homes with each. “The natural preponderance I had to sit there quietly and imagine what was going on,” he told Shetty. “That fueled me into realizing that there’s actually… a pursuit that is, ‘Let’s put on a show. Let’s tell the story.’ That came along, and bang, that was it.”
He later noted: “I feel that I was fortunate that from [my] upbringing, I had no qualms about, ‘Hey, let’s go. I got enough money for gas.’ I drove across the country with four other people one time. And then the next year I drove across the country by myself. Did not bat an eye and there are people that listen, they just can’t do that.”
“You know, there is a degree of security and fear and intimidation that can go along with that, putting yourself in the right place at the right time,” he explained. “And along with that will come all the – It’s a 50/50.”
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Gary Frayter, a celebrity brand and social media director at Kronus Communications, agreed with the warning Hanks was given stating that Hollywood is the “most unfair” business in the world.
“If an actor doesn’t bring in views, they’re out,” Frayter told Fox News Digital. “They preach body positivity/inclusion, but when’s the last time you saw an out-of-shape male lead in an action film? Hardly ever. My point is they’re very specific on the agendas they push, regarding what ‘inclusion’ means to them.”
Hanks returned to the big screen for his latest film, “Here,” on Nov. 1. The actor was joined by “Forrest Gump” co-star Robin Wright, for the first time in a film since the ’90s hit was released.
The film is based off the Richard McGuire graphic novel of the same name published in 2014. The plot follows families as time passes while set in the same home for the entire movie.
Despite the “nostalgia” that Hanks and Wright’s reunion brings to the audience, the film didn’t sit well with movie critics.
“No one fully manages to get out from under the movie’s preoccupation with visual technology at the expense of heart,” David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter.
“Couple the broad acting and cliché-ridden screenplay with the fixed-frame format, and ‘Here’ comes off like a bad sitcom, or even worse, a school play made by a bunch of fifth-graders who decided to tackle Eugene O’Neill and ‘Death of a Salesman,'” Odie Henderson wrote for the Boston Globe.
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Even for someone as successful and beloved by audiences as Hanks, bringing star power isn’t always enough to make a movie a success.
“Bringing Tom Hanks and Robin Wright back together taps into nostalgia, which can be a strong motivator for audiences – even with mixed reviews,” Frayter told Fox News Digital. “People may be drawn to ‘Here’ for the emotional connection they felt with ‘Forrest Gump,’ potentially outweighing initial critical feedback.”
“That said, if the film doesn’t deliver, it risks leaving a lasting disappointment, which could tarnish the reunion’s impact.”
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Pairing together celebrities to bring in an audience isn’t a new concept.
“Movie studios know they only have a few milliseconds to promote their film, and since movie stars have powerful brands, just like Nike and Netflix, it’s no surprise to see yet another iconic Hollywood pair (Pitt/Clooney, DiCaprio/Scorsese) banking on star power to try and attract audiences,” Troy Gallo, director of brand strategy at Braintrust, told Fox News Digital.
“By reuniting successful duos, studios can mitigate the risk associated with new, unproven projects and help reassure audiences and make these films more appealing to all.”
