NEED TO KNOW
Jim Hanks, 64, is the younger brother of Tom Hanks, 69
Jim has long been recognized for how much he looks and sounds like his Academy Award-winning brother, leading to opportunities to serve as Tom’s body double
During the May 15 episode of the Love it Film podcast, Jim talked about the experience of working on 1994’s Forrest Gump
Tom Hanks‘ brother can’t help but laugh at his memories of making Forrest Gump.
Jim Hanks, the younger brother of the two-time Academy Award winner, served as the actor’s body double in the 1994 film. Speaking with the Love it Film podcast on the Friday, May 15 episode, Jim, 64, talked about getting to run as Gump in different parts of the country.
“Pretty much all that running stuff, if you can’t see his face, it’s me. If you can see his face, it’s obviously him,” Jim said of splitting Gump duties with his famous brother, 69.
“Every time I watch the movie, I’m going, ‘Me, me, me, Tom,’ ” he admitted, adding, “I feel really fortunate to have had any part of it. They flew me to Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina.”
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Vermont had an added challenge for its running teams, with Jim recalling, “I was running along this road and the camera is on the other side of this field, but the cows kept looking at the camera. I was running and they said, ‘The cows keep looking at the cameras.’ “
Then, they asked Jim to help attract attention his way. “[They said], ‘When you’re running, can you yell and whoop and whatever to get them to look at you?’ “
“So I’m running like, ‘Hey, cow! Cow!’ I’m trying not to look like I’m just screaming at the top of my voice as I’m doing the Gump trot,” he said.
Forrest Gump went on to win Hanks his second Best Actor Oscar in 1995, and has become a cultural touchstone.
However, Forrest Gump isn’t the only project where Jim doubled for Tom. He has also served as Tom Hanks’ double for Woody across Toy Story media and merchandise for over 30 years.
Jim Hanks (left) and Tom Hanks
Credit: Bei/Shutterstock
During an April 2022 interview with the podcast Canned Air, Jim shared that in the ‘80s, he did stand-up comedy and cracked some Tom-related jokes. “When I first started doing it … I refused to address the elephant in the room, being the famous guy,” he recalled, referring to his brother. Jim explained that there were always whispers and curious expressions in the crowd when he got on stage since he resembled his brother so much.
After a year of performing stand-up without any mentions of Tom, Jim started acknowledging his brother in routines. “I would be introduced, I’d walk out and I would literally not say a word. I would just stand there for about 30 seconds or so,” he said.
He’d let the audience speculate before answering their questions with his opening line: “I know what you’re thinking.” Everyone would laugh, and then Jim would tell a few jokes about being Tom’s brother before moving on to the rest of his set.
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