‘Cast Away’ star Tom Hanks won the Academy Awards for ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Forrest Gump’
Tom Hanks can relax knowing that his record remains unchallenged this year.
The esteemed actor is one of only five performers to have won two consecutive Academy Awards for acting. His first Oscar came in 1994 for his role in “Philadelphia,” followed by another win in 1995 for his performance in “Forrest Gump.”
At the time of his second win, three other four actors who had achieved this milestone were still alive. However, with Luise Rainer’s passing in 2014, Hanks became the sole living actor to win an Oscar two years in a row. He has held onto this status for over a decade.
In addition to Hanks and Rainer, Jason Robards, Katharine Hepburn, and Spencer Tracy also achieved the feat of winning the award in consecutive years.
Despite maintaining his record status over the past decade, Hanks has faced close calls. In 2015, Eddie Redmayne secured an Oscar for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” He was nominated again in 2016 for his role as transgender artist Lili Elbe in “The Danish Girl,” but lost to Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “The Revenant.”
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In 2018, actor Sam Rockwell won the Academy Award for his performance in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” The following year, he received a nomination for his role in “Vice” but lost to Mahershala Ali for his performance in “Moonlight.”
Hanks’ first Oscar win in 1994 was for his leading role in “Philadelphia,” where he portrayed Andrew Beckett, a lawyer who faces discrimination and wrongful termination after his HIV-positive status is revealed. While the role earned him critical acclaim and an Academy Award, Hanks has expressed doubt about whether he would choose to star in a similar film today.
In June 2022, Hanks addressed the question of whether a straight man could portray a gay character like he did in “Philadelphia.” He stated to The New York Times Magazine, “No, and rightly so. The whole point of ‘Philadelphia’ was don’t be afraid. One of the reasons people weren’t afraid of that movie is that I was playing a gay man. We’re beyond that now, and I don’t think people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy.”
He won his second Oscar for his portrayal of the titular character in “Forrest Gump,” a film that follows a neurodivergent man as he inadvertently finds himself at the center of many historical moments.
During a June 2023 appearance on “The Graham Norton Show,” Hanks revealed how he developed the iconic voice for his character in “Forrest Gump.”
“Bob Zemeckis came to me and said, ‘Hey, we got a problem on this!’ You got to teach this kid how to talk the way you want to talk,’” he recounted on the show. “I thought, why don’t I just talk the way he talks right now?” After conversing with Michael Conner Humphreys, the child actor portraying the younger version of Hanks’ character, Hanks realized, “Well, this is it,” and the character found his voice.
While previous Academy Award winners are nominated again this year, none of them emerged victorious at last year’s ceremony, ensuring that Hanks’ record remains unbroken for another year.
Some of this year’s Academy Award nominees include Emma Stone for her performance in “Poor Things,” Cillian Murphy for his role in “Oppenheimer,” Robert De Niro for his portrayal in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and Jodie Foster for her role in “Barbie.”