Longtime collaborators Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari captivated audiences with their improvised comedy skills when they starred in the ’80s sitcom Sad Friends.
But behind the scenes of the comedy buddy, the actors’ tendency to stray from the script was not always appreciated by the production team, according to Hanks, who fondly recalled “fooling around” with his late partner when he appeared on an episode of the series on Tuesday. Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“We had to stay on set and repeat every line over and over, so we started … fiddling with the script, experimenting with props and stuff, and the directors sat in their booth,” Hanks said. Kimmel.
“We always heard during a conversation in the studio:“ Hi guys? … Are you going to say that? ‘We can!’ “But that’s not in the script.” – Yeah, but … if it works, then it works, right? … ‘Can you give us a minute?’ ‘Oh sure. Go ahead, continue. ‘ And then we came up with something else. And then they came back again and said: “Wait, wait, wait. We just figured out what you’re going to do. Are you going to do that too? ‘ ‘We can!'”
The Oscar winner spent almost half of his interviews with Kimmel reminiscing about his friendship with Scolari, who died last month at the age of 66 after battling cancer for two years.
In addition to co-starring with Hanks in Sad Pals, Scolari also starred in Hanks’s What You Doing! (1996) and The Polar Express (2004).
“God bless him. I will miss him every day, ”Hanks said of his stage partner. “He had the body of a gymnast – I mean a professional gymnast from Cirque du Soleil. He could make an iron triangle and all that. He was a juggler.
“I don’t know how many people really change your life when you meet them. But we met with him, we picked up the scripts, started messing around, and I really thought, “Oh, that’s all. This is how it works. It looks like a gloved hand. “
At the end of their conversation, Kimmel ran an excerpt from the 1982 episode “Sad Friends,” in which the characters of Hanks and Scolari go for a weekend in a secluded cabin in the woods.
Hanks presented the footage as an example of “ease and affection” between him and Scolari, with whom he was “molecularly connected.” After scrolling the tape, the “Finch” star held back her tears, paying her last tribute to her dear friend.
“Peter has a wonderful family,” Hanks said. “His wife, Grace. He has great kids and we lost him to the emperor of all diseases, so thanks for letting us show this clip. Thanks everyone. “
