Even death won’t have the power to keep Tom Hanks from the big screen. The 66-year-old comedian is certainly one of Hollywood’s most recognizable and respected stars, and has left an indelible mark on the film industry with his versatility as a performer. His career, which spans more than four decades, is filled with endearing characters and memorable films that have cemented him as a true film legend.
In a recent interview on The Adam Buxton Podcast (via Variety), Tom Hanks said that death will no longer mean the end of an actor’s career, as artificial intelligence and deepfakes will allow him to remain on screen. The Grumpy Neighbor star (90%) talked about The Polar Express (55%) and his early involvement with this type of technology:
The first time we made a movie that had a lot of our data stored on computers, literally how we looked, it was a movie called The Polar Express. We saw it happen, we saw that there was going to be the ability to take a zero and a one from inside a computer and turn it into a face and a character. Since then it has only multiplied by a billion and we see it everywhere.
During the interview, Hanks said that currently, thanks to artificial intelligence and deepfake technology, it is possible to create tapes where they make him look like a 32-year-old man. The interpreter also said that even after his death the possibility of him continuing to act in films would not disappear:
Anyone can now recreate themselves at any age using AI or deepfake technology. I can get hit by a bus tomorrow and that’s it, but the performances can go on and on. Outside of the understanding of AI and deepfakes, there would be nothing to tell you that it’s not me and only me. And it’s going to have a somewhat realistic quality to it. It’s definitely an artistic challenge, but it’s also a legal one.
Hanks began his career in the entertainment industry in the 1970s, but gained recognition and popularity in the 1980s. His most prominent role at the time was in the television sitcom Bosom Friends, where he played a man who is forced to dress up as a woman in order to make a living. Although the series did not last long, it gave Hanks an opportunity to showcase his comedic talents and charisma on the small screen.
However, in the 1990s, Hanks achieved worldwide fame and established himself as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. In 1993, he starred in Philadelphia (78%), a dramatic film in which he played Andy Beckett, a young lawyer who fights against discrimination in the workplace because of his HIV status. His passionate and inspiring performance earned him his first Academy Award for Best Actor, and made it clear that Hanks’ acting abilities knew no bounds.
That same year, Hanks starred in Forrest Gump (72%), another film that became a cultural phenomenon and a major box office success. For his performance as Forrest, Hanks won his second Academy Award and established himself as one of the greatest actors of his generation. Over the years, Hanks has proven his versatility as an actor by adapting to a variety of film genres. In addition to the films mentioned above, his other outstanding films include Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan (93%) and Castaway (90%).
We most recently saw Hanks on the big screen in the biographical drama Elvis (79%) directed by Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll and Hanks as “Colonel” Tom Parker. In addition, Hanks is already preparing for the premiere of his next film, Asteroid City, written, directed and produced by Wes Anderson. The premiere of the tape is scheduled for June 16 this year.
