When you (co-)wrote the play you're starring in, the last thing you have to worry about is remembering your lines, right? Wrong! Tom Hanks, currently starring Off-Broadway in This World of Tomorrow (co-written with James Glossman, based on Hanks' short stories) at The Shed, admitted to flubbing his own lines on the stage.
"I disappeared the other night," he said during an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert November 3. "And when it happens, Kelli O'Hara or Ruben Santiago-Hudson, they all just kind of look at me and go, 'Come on, man.'" But, he goes on to share, the unexpected perk of being in your own work is you're on stage in front of the audience and get to hear first-hand when lines might need revision. "This is where you play around, and it's a very malleable and exciting thing." Watch a clip from the interview below (and also click here to learn about Hanks riding the New York subway, and why the play This World of Tomorrow is about time travel).
The new play, making its world premiere, is playing the Off-Broadway company's Griffin Theater through December 21. Opening night is November 18.
Two-time Academy Award winner Hanks star as Bert Allenberry, a scientist from the future who travels through time to 1939's World's Fair in Queens, New York, in search of true love. The story comes from a collection of Hanks' short stories that was published in 2017.
The starry production also includes Kelli O'Hara, Kerry Bishé, Kayli Carter, Paul Murphy, Jamie Ann Romero, Lee Aaron Rosen, Jay O. Sanders, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Donald Webber Jr., and Michelle Wilson.
Tony winner Kenny Leon is directing.
Hanks is best known for his screen work in such titles as Sleepless in Seattle, Big, Apollo 13, and Forrest Gump. He made his Broadway debut in 2013's Lucky Guy, earning a Tony Award nomination for his performance. His last stage performance was as Falstaff in Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles' 2018 Henry IV. This performance is his first New York stage performance in more than a decade.
Tickets are at TheShed.org.
Tom Hanks in This World of Tomorrow
Kelli O'Hara and Tom Hanks in This World of Tomorrow
Tom Hanks in This World of Tomorrow
