Tom Hanks Still Loves His Directorial Debut ‘That Thing You Do’

Tom Hanks took a moment during his recent BAFTA interview to discuss his directorial debut That Thing You Do. According to the actor, he has nothing but love for the film.

The award-winning star of Captain Phillips touched on a number of topics during his chat on Saturday. Included among the subjects was his 1996 comedy starring Tom Everett Scott, Johnathon Schaech, Steve Zahn, Ethan Embry, and Liv Tyler.

Tom Hanks explained that he started writing the movie while promoting his classic Forrest Gump. The actor said he began work on the project in an effort to keep his mental well-being in check.

“I had talked about myself for a year straight so I started writing to maintain some sort of creative sanity,” he explained during the BAFTA interview.

One person who gave Tom Hanks some helpful advice about his directorial debut was Sean Penn. While taking their kids trick-or-treating, Hanks and Penn discussed the ups and downs of filmmaking. According to Penn, actors needs to direct a film to understand how difficult it is to put a project together.

“He said every actor should direct just to find out just how hard a job it is and every director should have to act,” he explained.

Tom Hanks elaborated on his experience trick-or-treating with Sean Penn and Escape Plan star Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Bosom Buddies alum said he was visiting the nation’s capital on Halloween, which was when Schwarzenegger was in the area filming director James Cameron’s action flick True Lies.

Tom Hanks explained:

“So me and my kids, Sean and Robin [Wright] and their kids, and Arnold and his kids went out trick-or-treating together, in Georgetown. If anyone was to come out of their house to see who’s on the sidewalk, they’re going to win the celebrity lottery here. Arnold was saying to us, ‘Come on, hurry up, you snooze you lose, get up there with your candy.'”

If you happen to see Tom Hanks while you’re in an elevator or at the supermarket, then try your best to avoid making any references to Forrest Gump. Although he might be polite about it, listening to people make the same remarks over and over is starting to get wear thin.

“Every time I walk into somebody’s living room for the first time, they always say, ‘Son of a gun, Forrest Gump in my living room.’ Elevator rides with people: ‘Oh, I can’t believe, Forrest Gump in the same elevator as I am.’ I get it, I get it,” he explained.

Are you a fan of Tom Hanks and his 1996 comedy That Thing You Do?

[Image via 20th Century Fox]