Spent an enjoyable quarter hour watching actor Tom Hanks being interviewed on David Letterman. Effortlessly funny and charming. He mentioned having to say no to projects (more precisely, feeling obliged to say no to projects that are awful) and joked about using "I have to promote a movie in Japan" as a foolproof excuse.
Mr. Hanks, a two-time academy award winner, is often cited as being the nicest man in Hollywood. He's currently in a play on Broadway for which he's been, of course, nominated for a Tony.
It occurred to me that an awful thing about being Tom Hanks would be people constantly wanting things of you. Can you read my script. Can you pass this on to Spielberg. Can you get me an audition. It must take an elevated, maybe even Grimleyesque, level of decency to continue to see people one doesn't know as human beings, not as takers.
In Scorsese's King of Comedy, De Niro painted wanna be comic Rupert Pupkin has a pathetic, no-talent who yearned to bite into Jerry Lewis' neck (metaphorically speaking) to become immortal - that is, famous. The character was not interested in honing in craft, in studying the history of comedy or television or humor. He didn't even seem to believe he had something of vaue to impart to an audience.
Do writers who try to palm off their scripts themselves (instead of through an agent) feel that same desperation, that need to fuel their careers with someone else's star power? Or is it similar to any other profession where you leverage any connections you may have?
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