How Tom Hanks Cleverly Dodged a Pointless Three-Day Scene
Tom Hanks is known as one of Hollywood's most dedicated actors, but one time he found a brilliant way to get out of a long, tedious filming session. Discover the story behind his smart on-set maneuver that saved him days of work and proved why he's a true professional, even when he's not on camera.
No one would ever question Tom Hanks's commitment to his craft, but even he knows when to be professionally unprofessional. It sounds like a contradiction, but he had a perfectly logical reason for bailing on a scene, leaving his castmates to handle it. This wasn't a diva tantrum or a fight with the director. America's Dad simply realized his presence was completely unnecessary, so he found a smart way to duck out while everyone else kept working.
A Welcome Change of Pace
Let's be honest, what would you choose between baking in the sun for hours or kicking back with some hot dogs? After getting tired of playing what he called “pussies,” the future Oscar winner was looking for something different. That search led him to Penny Marshall’s classic, _A League of Their Own_, where he took on the role of Jimmy Dugan, the hard-drinking manager of the Rockford Peaches. He later called the experience “the greatest gig in the world,” so it's obvious he had a blast making the movie.
An Unnecessary Ordeal
But even on a great project, there are tedious moments. The script had a part where the team was bummed out about the small crowds at their games. Hanks saw that while his character, Dugan, was technically involved, a huge chunk of the action didn't require him at all. “I read the pages, and I had the very first line in the scene, and I also had the very last line in the scene,” he later told Stephen Colbert. “And I knew if I didn’t get out of that friggin’ dugout, I was going to be shooting that scene for three and a half days.”
The Pro's Play
Instead of resigning himself to a multi-day ordeal, he came up with a plan that took about three minutes. He delivered his opening line as written, then improvised a bit, saying Dugan needed to “give the line-up to the umpire.” With that, he was gone, off to relax in the shade. “Because of where the sun was, they had to shoot that for hours, in like, three successive afternoons,” Hanks explained. “And you know what I was doing while they were shooting? I was playing three flies up and eating turkey franks, baby. Because I was smart enough to walk out!”
He was supposed to be there the whole time, but his quick thinking got him out of it. He summed up his strategy perfectly: “That’s what pros do, baby! They read the script and say, ‘I don’t think I have to be in this scene.’” He knew he wasn't needed, so he simply removed himself from the equation.