Tom Hanks Doesn’t Have Any “Career Lows” | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

just before we uh started the podcast we. were chatting and you were talking about. how both of us having highs and lows in. our career and I was thinking I know. what you're talking about Tom but no one. thinks that about you I think you have. the career well let me just I printed up. my. IMDb okay now you notice I'm almost to a. 100 films here right I'm getting I'm. getting up there but I'm going to say.

I'm going to say well you know coming. out of the printer uh I'm I'm going to. say see it out all these I'm going to. say six of these are pretty damn good. you know the rest the rest of them are. checkered it's all a checkered career. well that's no one here is buying it. nobody's thinking about the time when. you were down and out because I don't. think it exists I don't think that's. ever existed oh okay uh first of all. everybody wakes up at 3:00 in the. morning sometimes splashes cold water on. their face and asks this question of the. side guys what is happening to.

me why why can't I. rest why am I tormented and. haunted yet again that's your mattress. but um uh okay the look I without a. doubt I I really dig my job and I go. into everything with an insane amount of. enthusiasm and faith in the coll faith. in the collaborative process and um it.

is the I don't want to overuse Sports. analogy but it really is the baseball. analogy um Ted Williams hit 400 for one. season of his baseball career and that's. about the best you can do if you're. somewhere between 282 and you know three. something that they they will they will. put you in the Hall of Fame and the the. thing that there is nobody nobody starts. a movie and says one of these two.

things this ain't going to work no one. says that on the third day of shooting. uh we have made a terrible mistake none. of this is actually thing all these. peoples that are getting paid are. liars uh they are in no one says this. nor does anybody say on the F third day. of shooting we're in Clover. boys well that's cuz it's not. 1940 this thing's Aces fellas hold on.

your quarters. Jasper no no one no one says this um I. was okay Roger spottiswood who is about. as as fasile a filmmaker as I he we we. were shooting Turner and Hooch and this. was back when I really put you know an. import on uh the reports you know you. wanted like how's it going great oh we. saw this and it was great and that was. great and everything's great how about. that scene and how that was it and Roger.

Spotswood came back from looking at. dailies uh one day at lunch and I said. Roger is a English and I said uh hey hey. how are the dailies and he said uh they. were not half. bad and that's all you can shoot for how. was it well not I don't know you know. may I hope it'll cut that's all that's. all you can that's all you can hope for. and so at the end of the day.

the the thing that is now an advantage. of is I talk about this sometimes with. people who are as old as I am we got. into this let me tell you a story about. technology speaking of one-inch VH. cassettes the in between in between the. two years of the B bosom buds um the VHS. machine was invented and the first. season was in 1980 and in 1981 you could. go to Mad Mad mses or you know some. thing and for $4,000 buy a video.

cassette machine right and that altered. absolutely everything so as of episode. you know uh 22 of Kip and Henry's. Adventures uh in uh in bosm buddies. everything has since been rentalable and. it sits there forever so I have had. count and now of course you can watch a. movie any damn time you want to I can't. tell you how often I've been somewhere. and some someone will come up to me and.

say. uh excuse me Mr Hanks oh yeah oh hi how. are you I just want to say uh uh your. films have always been uh a great uh uh. uh uh Salvage for me uh I've really uh. enjoyed many many times I've turned to. you and uh I was home at one point and. uh came across and uh saw a film that. you made in 19 uh 93 uh that really. really spoke to me uh you played a uh.

a Air Force pilot in World War II uh in. uh Israel and uh I had never heard of. the film before I didn't know existed. but I really really really enjoyed it. and I said oh that movie was called. Every Time We Say Goodbye it was. directed by Moshe mrai and I made it for. about eight weeks in Jerusalem long. before the inapa. began very good sir and I also enjoy Toy. Story very very. much so all of all of you know all of. this stuff lives all of this stuff lives. and and now now what what happened is is.

that is that time has become one of the. metrics for how these things matter. right in the day I mean look it was just. a fist fight it was a it was a every. movie you came out are you gonna make. the playoffs or not guess what no kid. you're you're you're 2 and 12 and you. ain't going nowhere or you got a shot. you used to be you had these these had. these rubicons that you crossed when you. came down J first of all do you love it. or not that's the first thing hey I read. this thing I love it I can't get it on. my head yes okay you have crossed the.

rub you have crossed the Rubicon right. the next Rubicon you cross is when the. movie is completely done a year and a. half later and you see it for the first. time and you might like it or it might. it doesn't matter if it works or not you. look at it and say uh hey I think we. acquitted ourselves pretty good that's. Rubicon number two then the critics. weigh in Rubicon number three and that's. always up down we hate it we like it oh. this the worst thing oh hey oh hi to I I.

I saw you in a movie oh did you yeah it. was uh it was cute yeah yeah yeah that's. when you ask the wife hey honey could. you take the revolver out of the glove. box and hide it somewhere because I. think uh this is Saving Private think is. cute and so then but then this other. thing is how it does at the boo how it. does at the box office with is a bona. play then a ton of time goes by.

when none of that stuff matters anymore. and the movie Just exists exactly as it. is outside of Bluer winner status thumbs. up some thumbs up Thumb Thumbs down and. that's when this stuff comes around it's. like that this thing that didn't work. back then kind of does work now or just. the opposite the thing that was huge. back then is a museum piece and doesn't. really speak to anything uh that thing. you do oh yeah you were disappointed. when it came out and it has this whole. other life now it is it is cult.

classic but that's an example of let me. tell you something about these. who write for about. movies can I say that yeah okay it's. aast my father writes about. movies and his name is. somebody somebody somebody. who somebody who wrote about it is is. that this is just you know Tom Hanks has. to stop hanging around on with Veterans. of TV cuz this is just like the shot on. TV and it's not much of anything you.

know that same person then wrote about. the cult classic that Thing You Do same. exact person it's all you need is 20. years between uh between now and then. and it ends up speaking somewh but you. know that's the thing we all signed up. for that's you know that's the carnival. that's the contest right.