Tom Hanks tapped his inner grump for ‘A Man Called Otto’ with confusing DirecTV changes, tech issues
Tom Hanks brings a double helping of crotchety to his role in “A Man Called Otto.”
Truthfully, it’s initially jarring to see the universally anointed Nicest Guy In Hollywood, who won an Oscar as guileless Forrest Gump, transform into Otto the Grump.
But to the grump skeptics, Hanks, 66, explains he’s had years of preparation for the role just dealing with Otto-like life nuisances. Like satellite TV.
“You know how DirecTV has a grid telling you where all the channels are?” Hanks asks moments after breezily sitting down to talk in a Beverly Wilshire hotel suite. “For some reason, they just change it. So what used to be channel 151 is now somewhere in the 500s. And you have to search for it. Or the new grid is more complicated than a legal disclaimer from a drug prescription commercial.”
He’s just getting started, but you get the idea. Hanks can walk the tetchy walk for the comedic drama “Otto” (in theaters nationwide Friday).
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The widowed Otto Anderson, hardened by his wife’s death, leads an increasingly isolated existence. Along with the perma-scowl, Hanks developed a knuckles-first “pissed-off angry stomp” for Otto’s waterproof shoe-driven gait that kicks into overdrive when his neighbor’s dog urinates on his Pittsburgh patch of lawn or visitors flout parking-permit regulations.
Hanks can thank his fellow “Otto” producer (and wife of 35 years) Rita Wilson for endorsing the role. When the couple watched the Oscar-nominated 2015 Swedish film “A Man Called Ove,” based on author Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel, Wilson immediately thought of her spouse for an American remake of the darkly comic drama.
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“I once told my kids, ‘Knock it off, or I’m going to clobber you.’ And I was serious. That’s how mad I was,” says Hanks. “Since then I’ve been given cards and posters with inscriptions like, ‘Dear Dad, I am going to clobber you.’ “
But “any scowl is all bark, no bite,” Hanks says of his family dealings.
“Otto” lands in theaters with the Hanks family receiving some scrutiny amid a groundswell of “nepo baby” attention among famous Hollywood families. Both Wilson and Hanks insist that casting son Truman in his first movie role as Otto’s younger self was director Marc Forster’s idea. But Hanks makes no apology.
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“It’s a family business. If we were bodega owners or ran a plumbing supply company, all the kids would work shifts, especially during inventory time,” says Hanks. “Then there is the dead-ringer aspect. Take photographs of us at 26 and we’re exactly the same human. Except he’s taller, and better-looking than his dad at that age.”
Truman’s channeling of a younger, in-love Otto serves as a contrast to the older, ill-tempered version. But there were limits to how edgy the behavior could be in sensitive times. Hanks and screenwriter Dave Magee carefully crafted one Otto exchange with a neighboring dog owner to make sure the comedic ridiculousness was clear.
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