Why Tom Hanks Appears in Carly Rae Jepsen's Music Video
— -- Carly Rae Jepsen's video for her comeback single "I Really Like You," appeared late Friday night and, as promised, it stars Tom Hanks, who's shown lip-syncing the song while traveling to the video set and then dancing in the streets of New York City with the singer.
While some might assume that the "Call Me Maybe" singer had to beg the Oscar winner to appear in her video, in reality, it was Hanks' idea.
It turns out that Hanks is friendly with Jepsen's manager, Scooter Braun. One night over dinner, Braun shared Jepsen's concept for the clip with Hanks.
"He was telling him how I had this vision for like a male lead, that I wanted to have this guy sing the song rather than me, and I thought it would be really comedic and funny, especially if it was someone totally unexpected," Jepson told ABC News. "And Tom was like, 'Well, why don’t you guys ever ask me?'
"So I got a call from Scooter three days before Christmas, like, 'What about Tom Hanks?' I’m like, 'Are you kidding me? That’s Christmas come early! So, yes, please!'" she added.
And it's not like Jepsen was star struck on set, either, because it turned out that she and Hanks had met before at Braun's wedding. The experience helped break the ice.
"We were all trying to, like, shoo this hummingbird out of the tent," she recalled. "And I like thought he was gonna shoo it out with a broom ... and I said, 'Don’t hurt the bird!' And he turned around, and I was like, 'Tom Hanks!'"
She laughed and continued, "So that was our introduction. But we laughed about it, and we kind of had a cocktail and talked for the rest of the night. So it was all good, but it was an awkward beginning, for sure."
In addition to Hanks, the video also features an appearance by Justin Bieber, who arranged for Jepsen to be signed to Braun's record label after hearing "Call Me Maybe." The two have since become buddies, having toured and sang together on numerous occasions.
"He was in New York. It was like a wonderful surprise," she said of Bieber's appearance in the clip. "He was like, 'I’m coming down.' And we’re like, 'Great ... we’re gonna do, like, a flash mobby-type dance at the end, so come be a part of it!'"
"I Really Like You" is the first single from Jepsen's upcoming album, which doesn't yet have a release date or title.
