How "Here" brought Tom Hanks and Robin Wright together again
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, who first starred together in "Forrest Gump" 30 years ago, are reuniting in the new film "Here," directed by "Forrest Gump" director Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth.
The movie follows a couple, Richard and Margaret Young, through love and loss in the same living room over decades, capturing the evolution of their lives and the families that follow.
Shot entirely from the same camera angle, the film captures changes in the lives of its characters and the transformations in the world outside.
"This really is a meditation in passing, everything passes. And the only constant we have in our life is change," Wright said, describing Zemeckis' vision for how one place evolves over generations. "Which is what we all experience. So I think everyone will relate to one aspect or 12 in this movie," she said.
Hanks and Wright said they were eager to work together again on such an unusual project.
"When Bob [Zemeckis] mentioned getting the band back together, I was like, yes, for sure," Wright said. "And he's like, this has never been done before. I said, let's go, let's take the ride. We have such faith in him because his imagination is pretty incredible."
Hanks said the film's approach required a new style of acting, with short scenes showing the characters at various stages of their lives.
"We were making jokes when we were doing it because a lot of these scenes, they only last like two minutes or, you know, and our job was to make them as lively as possible and real as possible. And I said, well, look, if, look, if it gets boring, Bob will just have a stegosaurus walk by the window," Hanks said.
The film uses subtle digital effects to show Hanks and Wright at different ages, with scenes that create a sense of time passing.
"It was both strange and profound to watch myself go through different life stages on screen," Hanks said.
Wright and Hanks said the physical demands of portraying young, energetic characters in their 60s were challenging. In a lighthearted moment during the interview, they reenacted a scene by jumping from their seats, pretending to be teenagers. "We had to bring youthful energy to every take, which was harder than it sounds!" Wright said.
Reflecting on what he hopes audiences take away, Hanks said, "I hope they see themselves ... I go to the movies, no matter the gender of the characters or the culture that it's shot at, I wanna see some aspect of my own struggles up there because when I do, it's like, I'm going through that same exact thing."
"Here" comes out on Nov. 1, 2024.
