Tom Hanks has revealed to Parade about his latest film Captain Phillips.
According to E! Online, the film tells the true story of the MV Maersk Alabama being taken by hostage in 2009. Hanks plays the ship’s heroic captain, Capt. Richard Phillips, who was eventually rescued by Navy Seals snipers.
The two-time Oscar winner told Parade about the challenges of portraying this unbelievable story on-screen.
“By and large, the making of motion picture is all about ‘Let’s ratchet it up.’ And I always think, ‘We don’t need to ratchet this up.’ If you do, don’t call it Captain Phillips or The Maersk Alabama. Call it something else, and then you have carte blanche to do anything, down to sea serpents and aliens,” Hanks said.
The 57-year-old actor also opened up about the challenges of playing a real person. He said, “I think it’s important not to redefine somebody’s motivations…You’ve got to be a journalist and a historian and a filmmaker all at the same time.”
Although the exhilarating story is bound to be a box office success, the real Captain Phillips is very humble about being called a hero. The actual Captain Phillips told the magazine, “Oh, for me, it was my job. You take the paycheck, you do the job. As captain, you get all the blame, pretty much, and in this situation all the recognition, when it was 19 of my crew who were involved in it also… I feel glad that I didn’t lose any of my crew [on the Maersk Alabama].”
Hanks chimed in, “I have never met someone who did a heroic thing who didn’t say, ‘I was just doing my job.’”
Check out the trailer of Captain Phillips below!