Tom Hanks talks working with Clint Eastwood on “Sully”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tom Hanks has described Clint Eastwood as an “intimidating” director who “treats his actors like horses”, NME said.

Hanks stars in Eastwood’s latest film Sully, already a huge hit in the US. The two-time Oscar-winning actor plays Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, the commercial airline pilot hailed an American hero after he managed to land his plane safely on New York City’s Hudson River in 2009.

Recalling his experience working with Eastwood, Hanks says on The Graham Norton Show tonight (November 25): “You certainly don’t want one of those Eastwood looks. He treats his actors like horses because when he did the ’60s series Rawhide, the director would shout ‘Action!’ and all the horses bolted.

“So when he’s in charge he says in a really quiet soft voice, ‘All right, go ahead,’ and instead of shouting ‘Cut!’ he says ‘That’s enough of that.’ It’s intimidating as hell!”

During the interview, Hanks also reveals that the real-life Sully was “very particular” about how he is portrayed in the film.

Hanks recalls: “I’ll just say this, I visited him and he said, ‘Nice to meet you, glad you were on time. Clint turned up and he was 20 minutes late.'” Then he pulled out this dog-eared, stapled and notated script that he had read. Post-its, stapled index cards all over it – I’m sure his wife had even written ‘No’ across it in lipstick!”

“We went through every page and every moment, every beat had been commented on. He had opinions,” Hanks adds.

Tom Hanks appeared on The Graham Norton Show on November 25 on BBC One. Sully opens in UK cinemas on December 2.

Meanwhile, Hanks recently teamed up with Ellen DeGeneres, Bruce Springsteen and Robert De Niro to attempt the Mannequin Challenge at the White House.