Tom Hanks is one of the most popular film stars in the world right now. Best known for his dramatic and comedic film roles, he has starred in more than 80 films throughout his career. Hanks is one of the highest-grossing actors of our time and shows no signs of slowing down as he has another film to be released later this month, Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. But with a movie repertoire larger than most, which of his performances will make the top ten?
Here are the top 10 best Tom Hanks roles as ranked by The Guardian.
10. Philadelphia (1993)
Hanks won an Oscar for his performance in Philadelphia, playing a gay man who has contracted HIV who sues his workplace for wrongful dismissal. This early-1990s era was a goldenage for Hanks as he played several iconic roles in this time. Hanks brought a great deal of sensitivity and intelligence to the role.
9. Captain Phillips (2013)
Hanks stars as the merchant navy captain in this action hijack thriller film. With direction from Paul Greengrass, Hanks gives an impressive performance. The story follows a ship as it sails round the Horn of Africa, and therefore becomes a slow-moving easy target for Somali pirates with semi-automatic rifles, motivated by poverty.
8. Big (1988)
Fantasy-comedy Big was the film that gave Hanks his breakout role. The film, directed by Penny Marshall and written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg (sister of Steven), was universal in its message of feeling like an impostor in an adult’s body. The movie follows Josh Baskin (Hanks), the boy who resents the rules kids must follow, wishes to be big and then finds himself in an adult’s body.
7. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
One of the many Steven Spielberg films Hanks has worked on, Saving Private Ryan is a WW2 film where Hank plays Captain Miller, as he leads a platoon with the aim of finidng Private Ryan, played by Matt Damon. Saving Private Ryan picked up five Academy Awards.
6. Bridge of Spies (2015)
Hanks stars opposite Mark Rylance in this war thriller. Released in 2015, it’s a movie from his later career. Rylance plays the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in early 1960s America and Hanks plays courageous lawyer James Donovan; a man whose amateur enthusiasm and impulsiveness marks him out as a non-diplomat. The duo make for an iconic pairing.
5. A League of Their Own (1992)
A League of Their Own is about the foundation of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the Second World War. Hanks plays a miserable ex-baseball star with an alcohol problem and is given the chance to make a comeback through coaching. Geena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna all starred in the film alongside Hanks.
4. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood (2019)
Here, Hanks plays Fred Rogers, a real-life US children’s TV presenter from the late 1990s. The film follows the presenter’s downward trajectory as he begins to lose popularity and relevance. After he captures the attention of a cynical journalist, he takes part in an interview, and revelations come to light. It’s a hugely impressive performance from Hanks.
3. Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest Gump was arguably the most influential performance of his career so far. It is the role that cemented him as a Hollywood great and gained him multiple opportunities. It is the story of a young man with learning difficulties growing up in the 1950s whose innocence, kindness, and ultimately luck cause him to rise to great things. It’s probably the film with the most routed-for character of all time.
2. Toy Story (1995) / Toy Story 2 (1999) / Toy Story 3 (2010) / Toy Story 4 (2019)
Hanks’s vocal role as Woody in the Toy Story series is one of his most loved and heartwarming performances. Voicing the cowboy figure who is the favourite of child Andy, Hanks has played a significant role in many people’s childhoods. It’s hard not to love these iconic films at any age.
1. Apollo 13 (1995)
In Apollo 13, we are taken on a journey following the NASA moon missions. Hanks, playing Apollo 13’s modest yet heroic commander Jim Lovell, on whose memoir this movie is based. This suspenseful and exciting film, with direction from Ron Howard, is a Hollywood classic. Hanks was the perfect actor to play this role as he radiates professionalism while negotiating the loss of innocence involved in the Apollo 13 near-miss.