NYFF: Tom Hanks Talks ‘Captain Phillips’ And Silly Journalist Questions

Captain Phillips is perhaps the most intense performance that Tom Hanks has given over the last ten years of his career. As Captain Rich Phillips, Hanks immerses himself in the 2009 hijacking of a U.S. container ship, which was taken over by a crew of Somali pirates.

The air was palpable during Captain Phillips’ world premiere at the New York Film Festival. Audience members sat down to view Hanks go through a tremendous experience as an everyday man, who goes to work, only for his worst nightmare to happen as he loses control over his boat.

Despite the hijacking taking place early on in the film, to director Paul Greengrass’s merit, the film never loses speed or tension thought its duration. The tension is immediately felt in the film, as Greengrass brings us to Somalia before the hijacking takes place. From the start we’re introduced to two parallel lives. On one side is Rich Phillips, an average family man, who has a loving wife, and a son whose grades are lackluster. On the other hand is a volatile situation involving international trade, and those who must follow orders from superiors.

Much of the intense inner workings are cast upon Tom Hanks’ shoulders, who goes through a range of emotions, from wanting to work peacefully with his captors to being thrown, literally into the trenches of a high stakes crises. Hanks’ Captain Phillips finds himself in the most challenging situations that are both physically and emotionally taxing, as he is forced to give his power over to the pirates as he gets thrown deeper into political turmoil.

The Inquisitr’s Niki Cruz was on hand at the New York Film Festival to take part in a discussion with actor Tom Hanks on his experience of filming Captain Phillips.

********

On fact versus fiction in Captain Phillips

Hanks: I explained to [Richard Phillips], you know, “It’ll say things you never said, and be places you never would,” but if we do this right, thematically we will be spot-on with the nature of what happened to him, and how. It’s a very environmental movie, I mean, shooting it as we did on a on board a ship that was more or less identical to the Alabama, at sea or in these very small confines. I could probably walk you through it and say, “That’s a moment that didn’t happen, but thematically it is what happened,” and that’s tricky and it can get away from you, but we were always searching for that combination of procedure and behavior that were going to be not just reminiscent but reflective of what really happened.

On dealing with sea sickness during the shoot

Hanks: Barkhad [Abdi] was on that boat out there for a long time, and people are all asking, “Well how’d you shoot those scenes in the middle of the ocean on that speedboat?” And I have to say, “Well they put us on a speedboat in the middle of the ocean.” There was one day where we were actually getting shots on the actual lifeboat on the water in Malta, and everybody who was not an actor in the lifeboat ended up vomiting.

On answering stupid questions from journalists

Hanks: I saw Rich and [wife] Andrea on a couple of occasions. And you don’t wanna be an idiot — you don’t wanna ask “What were you feeling? What was it like? Are you a hero?” [laughs] You don’t ask questions like most journalists do when the time comes. “What was it like?” [laughs] I know, cheap shot — but be on my end one of these days and see how it feels. Everybody says, “You just keep giving the same answers.” Well, they are the same questions.

On gaining a different perspective on Captain Phillips

Hanks: Andrea said something that was quite interesting. I said, “Do you ever visit Rich on one of these ships?” And she said, “I used to, but it’s no fun because Richard is a completely different human being when he’s on board and on the job. He’s very easy-going — I would almost describe him as happy-go-lucky — but on board the ship it is just always serious; it is serious work that he as the captain has to do.” And that was the tumbler for me. I don’t know what it was, but all of the 52 cards just became a bit of a shuffle and I felt as though I knew what to do every time Paul presented something.

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS hits theaters on October 11.