Tom Hanks Thought This Classic Comedy Was ‘Going Straight to Video’

From the 1980s on, Tom Hanks has been a staple of the silver screen. The actor’s career — and back-to-back Academy Award wins for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump — are the stuff of legend. But despite all the hit movies he’s starred in, Hanks and his co-star were convinced one of his most famous movies wasn’t going to work. Let’s dig into the classic Hanks comedy that no one — not even its star — thought would connect with audiences.

Tom Hanks delivered a star-making performance in ‘Big’

In the early 1980s, Hanks became known for his role on TV’s Bosom Buddies. Then 1984’s Splash gave the actor his first starring role. That movie turned out to be a massive hit, launching his future as a comedic movie star. But it wasn’t until a few years later that Hanks’ true potential as a dramatic actor became clear. The movie that pulled it off? 1988’s Big, in which Hanks plays a 12-year-old boy trapped in a 30-year-old’s body.

The film — directed by Penny Marshall — became one of the year’s biggest hits, earning $115 million (according to The-Numbers.com) on a reported $18 million budget. Moreover, Hanks’ transformation into a young boy earned him the respect of the industry and his first Academy Award nomination. Without Big, Hanks might never have had the opportunity to become the star he would develop into. So it’s wild to consider that the actor and his co-star were worried about the project.

Tom Hanks and his co-star had little faith in the movie during filming

In a 2013 interview with the New York Post celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary, Hanks’ Big co-star Elizabeth Perkins revealed how she and Hanks felt about the movie during production. After all, body-switch comedies were everywhere in the 1980s, with films like Vice Versa and Like Father Like Son. So Perkins and Hanks had little reason, it seems, to think Big would set itself apart.

In fact, Perkins claimed the she and Hanks “looked at each other at one point [during the filming] like, ugh — this is going straight to video.” Of course, that ended up not being the case. But given the big — pun intended — swings the movie’s story goes for, it’s easy to see why the cast might think the finished product wouldn’t have worked. Even the concept of Hanks embodying the innocence and shyness of a young boy could have fallen flat in the wrong hands.

‘Big’ has struggled to make a jump to television

Instead of ending up straight to video, Big became a phenomenon. Even with Hanks’ subsequent work, it stands as one of his most beloved and notable films. And perhaps that’s why it has struggled in other forms. Less than a decade later, Big was adapted for the Broadway stage and ran for a few months in 1996 before closing for good.

But Big faced even more resistance from television. In 1990 and 2014, reports came in that a TV show adaptation was in the works. However, neither time did development lead to much. Instead, the Hanks classic — against all odds — has retained its place in both cinematic history and Hanks’ storied career.