TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Tom Hanks gets everyone laughing (and singing) at the Cloud Atlas presser
Okay, first things first. The following four thousand people were in attendance at TIFF’s press conference for the epic sci-fi/fantasy spectacular Cloud Atlas : Actors Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Keith David, Ben Whishaw, Zhou Xun, James D’Arcy, David Gyasi and Hugh Grant, plus the film’s three directors, Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. Oh, and moderator Richard Crouse (the stage was so crowded he had to sit on the floor). It was Grant’s birthday, so Hanks opened the proceedings by leading a “Happy Birthday to Hugh” singalong. “Thank you!” Grant beamed. “That’s the first nice thing the press have done for me!” Grant’s snarking was one of the highlights. But, duh, the star of the show was Hanks, who proved again that he’s the nicest man in Hollywood, if not the whole entire world. (Even though he plays a bad guy, or three, in Cloud Atlas .)
Hanks talked about his attraction to the ambitious material and his limited experience making science-fiction movies, which until Cloud Atlas had amounted to crashing the set of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan during his days as the co-star of TV’s Bosom Buddies. But while Hanks was mostly all smiles, he did ask a question of the press gallery, and of the Toronto International Film Festival in general. “Why do you herd your celebrities through pens like bulls to the slaughter?” he asked, referring to the fest’s narrow red carpet warrens. When asked about the power of his celebrity, Hanks kept things honest. “If I truly had power, I’d be water-skiing right now.”
164617 Tom Hanks and Halle Berry (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-intro-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-intro.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-intro.jpg 656 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-intro/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-intro 0 0
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164601 Tom Hanks (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-1-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-1.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-1.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-1/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-1 0 0
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164602 Hugh Grant (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-2-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-2.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-2.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-2/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-2 0 0
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164603 Susan Sarandon (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-3-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-3.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-3.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-3/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-3 0 0
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164604 Halle Berry (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-4-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-4.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-4.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-4/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-4 0 0
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164605 Halle Berry (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-5-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-5.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-5.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-5/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-5 0 0
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164606 Tom Hanks and co-director Lana Wachowski (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-6-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-6.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-6.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-6/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-6 0 0
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164607 Tom Hanks (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-7-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-7.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-7.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-7/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-7 0 0
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164608 Hugo Weaving and Susan Sarandon (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-8-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-8.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-8.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-8/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-8 0 0
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164609 Susan Sarandon (Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-9-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-9.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-9.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-9/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-9 0 0
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164611 Zhou Xun (Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-11-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-11.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-11.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-11/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-11 0 0
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164612 Jim Broadbent (Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-12-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-12.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-12.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-12/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-12 0 0
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164613 David Gyasi (Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-13-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-13.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-13.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-13/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-13 0 0
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164614 Co-director Tom Tykwer (Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-14-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-14.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-14.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-14/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-14 0 0
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164615 Jim Sturgess (Image: Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-15-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-15.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-15.jpg 416 624 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-15/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-15 0 0
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164616 Co-directors Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski (Image: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Entertainment) TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas TIFF PRESS CONFERENCE: Cloud Atlas https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-16-96x96.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-16.jpg https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-16.jpg 624 416 [] https://torontolife.com/culture/tiff-2012-cloud-atlas-press-conference/slide/tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-16/ tiff12-cloud-atlas-pc-16 0 0
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Even the TO sidewwalks are narrow. airport halls narrow. Streets narrow. Big empty land wisse nation all built on narrow little strips.
What a cry baby. Poor Tom. I think we would all like to be water skiing in the Muskoka “Cottage” you built here with all your fan money. I’d watch what you say around here. You do rememember what they say about Karma??!!
I guess the “narrow red carpets” are too small for his huge EGO. What a knob. His comment about water skiing insults tiff, the press and even his co-stars.
What’s the matter Tom? Somebody give you pulp in your OJ at the hotel?
Cry baby? More like sour comments. If you asked me what I’d rather be doing I’d tell you not working either but I’m here and he did his job too.
what’s with all this negativity towards Tom Hanks? Have you seen the video? It’s just a little comment he made which is actually kind of self deprecating. Can you not imagine how tired all the actors and actresses must be? Please be more open minded. I’ve seen and heard comedians and other people say horrible things, and they actually mean it. Tom Hank’s comment is in no way, in the same league.