A confident young nobody.
Ozing confidence cemented in some contextual realism is the only way to describe the young Tom Hanks who wrote to director George Roy Hill in 1074.
Hanging in the Library of the Motion Picture Academy in Beverly Hills is Tom Hank’s letter, handwritten on lined notebook paper.
In the letter, an 18-year-old Hanks is frank about his looks, but just as frank about his self belief and ambition telling the director he would not regret taking a chance on him.
The full letter is below.
Dear Mr. Hill,
Seeing that… I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film “The Sting,” starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should “discover” me.
Now, right away I know what you are thinking (“who is this kid?”), and I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me. … My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can’t even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films … they will pay to see me.
Let’s work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a soda shop stool, you walk in and notice me and — BANGO — I am a star.
Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give me a stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and, because you are behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and — BANGO — I am a star.
All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But let’s get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford “Bob”.
Respectfully submitted,
Your Pal Forever,
Thomas J. Hanks
Alameda, California
Hat-tip to NPR
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