Tom Hanks on Elvis Presley and How He Prepares for a Really Emotional Scene

With writer-director Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis opening in theaters this weekend around the world, I recently got to speak with Tom Hanks about playing Colonel Tom Parker in the biopic. During the interview, Hanks talked about the way Parker was a promoter and not a manager, why Elvis never fired him, and how he prepares for a really emotional scene. In addition, he revealed his dream project, which would be about Dean Reed, who was an American actor and singer that decided to become a communist behind the Iron Curtain. It’s a wild story.

As you can see in the trailers, Elvis is about the complicated relationship between Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks) and Elvis Presley (Austin Butler). The film tells Elvis’ story from Parker’s point of view, and it spans over two decades and includes Presley’s rise to fame against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America.

Butler is superb in the role and actually sings Presley’s early songs in the film. His performance alone is reason to see the film. Elvis also stars Helen Thomson as Elvis’s mother, Gladys, Richard Roxburgh as Elvis’s father, Vernon, Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley, Luke Bracey as Jerry Schilling, Natasha Bassett as Dixie Locke, David Wenham as Hank Snow, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King, Xavier Samuel as Scotty Moore, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jimmie Rodgers Snow. To play additional iconic musical artists in the film, Luhrmann cast singer/songwriter Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, model Alton Mason as Little Richard, Gary Clark Jr. as Arthur Crudup, and artist Shonka Dukureh as Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton.

#TomHanks #Elvis #ElvisPresley

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