Talktime | Tom hanks
60-year-old actor, who plays the role of Robert langdon in the movie Inferno, talks about his experience of working in the film, how he could relate to the character and the physical challenges that he faced
You are pairing up with director Ron Howard for the fifth time after Splash, Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons and nowInferno. How has been the experience so farIJ
It’s been more than 30 years since Ron and I teamed up, and I’m happy that our approach to filmmaking hasn’t changed since the very first time we worked together back in the day. Inferno is our fifth movie together and all of them start off at the same place. We ask ourselves ‘is there something here we can crackIJ’ Because otherwise, I’d rather stay at home and play with the kids than go off and make a movie that isn’t going to confound and challenge us every single day. And it’s always about the material.
What was it about Inferno drew you to itIJ
The movie is not just a scavenger hunt that goes on or a clue trail. It really goes forward with this idea of maybe we would be better off with half as many people on the planet and then what would that cost beIJ It’s that theme this drew Ron and me back into the world of Robert langdon. The film has spectacular visual effects and extraordinary action sequences but at its heart, it has to be personal with finely drawn characters, like langdon, that an audience can relate to and cheer for.
How is Inferno different from Da Vinci Code and Angles & DemonsIJ
The thing about Inferno versus the other films is that this one is about a dilemma that’s facing us — it’s about tomorrow, about next week. I think the fear mongering that is put forward in this story is more heightened than the situation actually is, but without a doubt this is something that incorporates the environment and geo-politics and our economy.
How was your experience to shoot at historic places in EuropeIJ
The filming took us to some extraordinary locations, just as it did with the earlier films and I loved every minute of it. I once changed my clothes in front of the Mona lisa in the louvre at 3 am. We got to hang around CERN and run around. We weren’t allowed to walk into the Pantheon in Rome but we shot outside it. We were in the actual Palazzo of the Hall of Five Hundred (Palazzo Vecchio) shooting in Florence. So, life experience wise, it was fantastic.
Was shooting at these locations physically challengingIJ
Yes, they were. We were shooting in Florence, Italy for a sequence where we are running away from a drone. We had to run on ancient cobblestones, a lot of stairs to run up, a lot of walls to jump over and you’re being chased around. It was hot and I was wearing suede shoes with no ankle support. It was not easy. We always used to wait for a scene where we’d get to run on a nice grass field. And Felicity had to do it in wedges. But it keeps you in shape and ends up being kind of fun.
Do you think there are any similarities between you and your character Robert langdonIJ
Yes. like langdon, I believe that even the most daunting present day problems — like over population — can be tackled. I am a pragmatist, I’m not just cheery for the sake of being cheery. I don’t jump to any conclusions and dig a little bit deeper to find out the root cause of the problem. like langdon I study history and am dazzled by it when it seems as though it’s talking about today.
There is a perception that books adapted in to movies may not necessarily be as good. What would you like to say to your fans in India who have read the bookIJ
The film will honour the story they love and some. What David Koepp (writer) and Ron did with this is to load it with a lot of other things that are not even in the book so readers and audience get to discover new things. For those who don’t know the story, they too will be entertained by an engrossing, bang up to the minute topical thriller.