It seems like most times a big name actor decides to give Broadway a shot he or she can expect to receive a Tony nomination in return for boosting the box office. Okay, maybe that’s not fair in the case of Tom Hanks, who has received nearly across-the-board praise for his role in his Broadway debut Lucky Guy and thus, with little surprise, a Tony nomination.
In speaking with CBS New York after learning of his nomination, Hanks confesses that the demands of Broadway acting is something completely new to him. He points out, “I’ve never done the rigors of this. This is sort of like, I feel like I’ve played good American Legion baseball, and now, suddenly, I’m playing left field for the Yankees.”
He gives much of his praise to the late playwright Nora Ephron, his good friend who died before the play’s debut on Broadway. He says, “Even though all we hear is her words — but we know exactly which ones are hers — I can hear her voice over and over again, and I can hear her sensibility over the two hours of the course of the show. So look, I miss her horribly. I wish she was here.”
He also reveals that he feels a connection with the real-life figure that his character is based on, New York journalist Mike McAlary. He explains, “To play a guy like Mike McAlary, who came with this, just, crushing, crushing, crushing, desire in order to find the stories, to get the stories, and live the life that goes along with that — I was surprised it had as many emotions that I recognized, much like being an actor.”
So, in the end what does the two-time Oscar winner think of his chances of winning a Tony? Hanks doesn’t sound convinced — in fact, he disputes his Oscar wins too! He jokes that they came “long ago, so long ago, before high def — I’m being seen with such clarity now.”
Yet when he’s asked if he truly feels like a lucky guy, he responds, “That’s an apt way of putting things. My Lord, yeah – luckiest man on the planet.”
