Tom Hanks reveals “most stupid career moment”

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks has revealed what he believes to be the most “stupid” moment of his career.

While appearing on The Graham Norton Show, the Oscar-winning actor reflected on his 30-year career before focusing specifically on his experience filming Ron Howard’s space drama Apollo 13.

Released in 1995, Apollo 13 tells the true story of Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, astronauts who find themselves in life-threatening danger when their journey to the moon goes wrong.

It was while filming the movie’s most quoted line – when Hank’s Lovell says: “Houston, we have a problem” – that the actor found himself in an embarrassing situation.

Hanks told Norton: “Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton and I were recreating the serious moment right after ‘Houston we have a problem,’ and we’re going up and down on grips making us look weightless.”

The Forrest Gump actor said he wouldn’t usually have been embarrassed by this, but that day, the cast and crew happened to receive a visit from Lovell himself.

Hanks continued: “We looked ridiculous and when I looked down there was Jim looking up at us,” adding: “I have never felt more stupid in my life.”

Apollo 13 was nominated for nine Oscars, winning two in the Editing and Sound categories.

Hanks appeared on The Graham Norton Show to promote an exhibition called The Moonwalkers, which he narrates and co-wrote with director Christopher Riley.

The installation tells the stories of the Apollo space missions, with the technology in the rooms designed to make audiences feel as if they’re sat alongside the astronauts.

Earlier this year, Hanks admitted that he “hates” some of the movies he’s starred in, although he didn’t specify which ones.

Speaking with The New Yorker, the actor explained: “Ok, let’s admit this: We all have seen movies that we hate. I have been in some movies that I hate. You have seen some of my movies and you hate them.

“Here are the five points of the Rubicon that are crossed by anybody who makes movies,” he continued. “The first Rubicon you cross is saying yes to the film. Your fate is sealed. You are going to be in that movie. The second Rubicon is when you actually see the movie that you made. It either works and is the movie you wanted to make, or it does not work and it’s not the movie you wanted to make.

Tom Hanks attends the "Asteroid City" red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 23, 2023. Credit: Dominique Charriau/GETTY
Tom Hanks. Credit: Dominique Charriau/GETTY

“That has nothing to do with Rubicon No. 3, the critical reaction to it — which is a version of the vox populi. Someone is going to say, ‘I hated it.’ Other people can say, ‘I think it’s brilliant.’ Somewhere in between the two is what the movie actually is,” he explained.

“The fourth Rubicon is the commercial performance of the film. Because, if it does not make money, your career will be toast sooner than you want it to be. That’s just the fact. That’s the business. The fifth Rubicon is time.”

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