Culture

How Tom Hanks Invited Oscar-Winning Director to 'Discover' Him When He Was a Teen

Tom Hanks poses during the photocall of the film ''Inferno'' in Florence in this May 11, 2015 file photo.
Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

July 29, 2015, 3:47 PM

 -- When Tom Hanks was a teenager, he was taken with the movie "The Sting," and its Oscar-winning director, George Roy Hill.

After seeing the film, Hanks, then an aspiring actor, wrote to Hill, asking for his big break.

"Now, right away I know what you are thinking: 'Who is this kid?!'" he wrote, according to a report by NPR. "I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me. ... My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can't even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me."

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Hanks, 59, never did work with Hill, who died in 2002 at the age of 81. However, the letter was saved and is currently on display at the Motion Picture Academy Library in Beverly Hills. It concludes with Hanks' hopes for his career.

"Let's get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some big-time, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me," he wrote. "[I'd rather be] just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford 'Bob.'"

The full text is below:

Dear Mr. Hill,

Seeing that ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should "discover" me. Now, right away I know what you are thinking: 'Who is this kid?' and I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me. ... My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can't even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me.

Let's work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a soda shop stool, you walk in and notice me and -- BANGO -- I am a star.

Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give me a stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and, because you are behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and -- BANGO -- I am a star.

All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But let's get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford "Bob".

Respectfully submitted,
Your Pal Forever,
Thomas J. Hanks
Alameda, California