Career nice guy Tom Hanks was thrilled to play “repugnant” character in Elvis
Baz Luhrmann spoke about Tom Hanks' role of Tom Parker, The King's controversial manager, in the recent blockbuster
Aux News Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks, international man of magnanimity, is known for many things: playing everyone’s favorite toy cowboy, fathering the inventor of “white boy summer”, and hating the idea of a Forrest Gump sequel almost as much as we do. One thing he is decidedly not known for, however, is being a money-grubbing, power-hungry dick—which is exactly why he wanted to play one so badly when Baz Luhrmann gave him the opportunity.
Hanks “wanted to play a character his fanbase wouldn’t want him to do” and therefore “jumped at the chance” to portray Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ lifelong “despot” manager, who “exploited the hell out of him” but also really “did love Elvis,” according to director Baz Luhrmann, per Deadline. (Hanks’ Tom Parker was also very surprised to learn that Elvis was, in fact, white, in a clip that did the rounds on Twitter earlier this summer.)
The Oscar-winning director revealed that he expected Hanks to be hesitant about accepting the role, but in reality, the actor was on board “within 15 minutes.”
“I sat down with him, having not even written a script yet, and he said ‘Well if you want me I’m your guy,’” Luhrmann continued.
Not everyone has been as enthusiastic about Hanks’ villainous turn as Hanks himself, however. While co-star Austin Butler has been almost unanimously praised by critics, Hank’s performance in the glitzy biopic has drawn a more, let’s say mixed reaction. In the words of The A.V. Club’s film editor, Todd Gilchrist:
More baffling—even catastrophic—is Hanks’ turn as Tom Parker, whose simmering Dutch roots were distantly identifiable in real life but are amplified here by an accent better suited for one of Austin Powers’ enemies. Notwithstanding the just plain bad choice to tell the story of one of the most iconic artists from the viewpoint of his scoundrel of a manager, Hanks maintains a consistent veneer of menace and untrustworthiness, down to his cryptic descriptions of Presley as the singer’s cultural stature grows throughout the film. One supposes that Hanks deserves credit for finally playing an outright villain for the first time in his career, but he plays Parker like such a fiend that it seems clear he was egged on, to his detriment, by Luhrmann’s campy excesses.
Elvis is now streaming on HBO Max. Tom Hanks also appears as the far less evil Geppetto in Disney’s live-action Pinocchio, which premiered September 8 on Disney+.
9 Comments
It might be because I had no frame of reference for Colonel Parker going into the movie, but I didn’t find Hanks’ portrayal very offputting. It was weird, but an acceptable “movie villain” weird that seems perfectly at home in a Baz Luhrmann movie.
It was a perfectly fine performance. And as someone who knows a lot of Dutch people, he sounded like someone who was Dutch who was not trying to sound Dutch. People who are screaming about the lack of subtlety in a Baz Luhrmann movie don’t really have any business watching Baz Luhrmann movies.
This isn’t Hank’ first role as a villain. He is perfectly repulsive as Dr. Henry Goose in Cloud Atlas: “There is only one rule that binds all people. One governing principle that defines every relationship on God’s green earth: The weak are meat, and the strong do eat.”Sounds like someone else we’ve known…Hanks’ Colonel is fairly two-dimensional. I don’t think anything was gained by telling Elvis’ story from his manager’s POV, nor does it make the villain more interesting.
Using Parker as POV does tons of leg work to separate the movie from the dozens of rote biopics that come out ever year.
What does it mean when you aren’t method but you achieve method? Watching Hanks’ fucking terrible performance, I felt all the discomfort and repulsion fostered by the real Colonel Parker. He got the job done!
He ruined the movie. They should have cast an unknown or at least a character actor.
Hanks performance was strange and off-putting, but memorable. I was expecting to hate it, but I am still thinking about it. Somehow it worked, at least for me.
I love Tom- we all do- but this was an epic miscast imo. Reminded me of Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass: I never believed this was a real person. Just a dude caked in bad makeup doing caricature. I couldn’t agree with AVC’s review more. Elvis is a weaker movie every time Hanks is onscreen, which is often (and that’s a shame since the film is really good otherwise). Every time he opens his mouth, I just hear Adam Sandler’s SNL voice. It’s the worst performance I’ve seen Tom give- and I’m including Pinocchio there.
Hey, Hanks wasn’t so nice in Mazes and Monsters!!