- Title: Tom Hanks talks Medal of Freedom honour and "Toy Story 4"
- Date: 17th November 2016
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 17, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, TOM HANKS, SAYING: "You know, on one hand there's that saying - no good deed goes unpunished, in the case of aviation incidents - no good deed goes unexamined or uninvestigated. What Sully went through, post that instinctive act that took place over 208 seconds, resulted in a... it wasn't exactly a prosecutorial process but it was one where he had to explain again and again and again everything from the evidence of 40-odd years as an aviator as well as what he had had for dinner the night before, if that could've possibly affected what happened on the flight. They're always asking that question, 'Tell us again why $110 million airplane landed in the water? Explain that again to us'. And he had to, and both he and Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot, had no idea if they were going to be found responsible somehow for the loss of that airplane and, if that had happened, his life as he knew it would've been over and he would've been an outcast in his chosen field. That's a pressure that did not leave him for the better part of two years." HANKS SPEAKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, TOM HANKS, SAYING: Reporter: You're a recipient of the Medal of Freedom that was announced yesterday. "That's extraordinary. It's quite a group of people, I mean everybody from Admiral Grace Hopper to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lorne Michaels and myself. Look, I'm just a dumb kid from Oakland, California, I don't know how any of this happened but I'm glad, I'm very fortunate that I've been able to work enough that it rates such a nod from such a man as the President of the United States." Reporter: And to be one of Obama's last recipients, how does that feel? "Well bittersweet cause, you know, we have term limits. If he was running again I would've voted for another four years. It ends up being so much of the - what I think is - so much of the promise of the United States. Look, I'm an American, there's no getting around it. I've been able to enjoy the great benefits of my country and my upbringing. And if a guy like me - I know it sounds ridiculous, I know - but if I was just a guy from Birmingham and I found myself being an OBE or knighted by the Queen I'd feel the same way. What a place where a guy like me can end up, you know, taking a knee before Her Majesty." VARIOUS OF ECKHART AND HANKS SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, TOM HANKS, SAYING: "Well it's been bumped to 2018 I think now but we've already started recording, so it's in the works." Reporter: Can you give us a little bit of Woody? "I'm giving...this is how Woody speaks right now, he doesn't have any other voice but mine. But all the movies are made in such tiny increments over long periods of time. We go into the recording studio and there's a prepared text and you go off that text and you keep experimenting with it, and then they take what you've recorded and they put it through another ring of creativity and alterations. So I'm like you, I can't wait to see what they've got Woody up to." CAPTAIN CHESLEY "SULLY" SULLENBERGER AND WIFE LORRIE WALKING PAST SULLENBERGER AND LORRIE SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) AIRPLANE PILOT, CAPTAIN CHESLEY "SULLY" SULLENBERGER, SAYING: "Well I had to come to terms with that word ['miracle'] a long time ago. I don't describe it that way, but then 'Preparation on the Hudson' doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? So I can understand how people think of it that way but that's not the way I think of it. I celebrate with gratitude the outcome but it was the result of a lot of preparation and hard work and dedication on the parts of many people." VARIOUS OF ECKHART SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, AARON ECKHART, SAYING: "But you know everybody gets in a plane, everybody has those questions, everybody questions the apparatus, the pilots, the procedures. So I think everybody can understand that - you hear the whine of the engines and then to hear silence, to have birds hit a plane and hear silence. Everybody sort of fears that, what happens when a plane doesn't have power, people think that a plane just sinks to the ground or just drops but that's not true. So all those people up in the air right now in the world, thousands of passengers and airplanes, you know they're probably thinking some of those thoughts. So I think it's a worldwide story. It's been very successful in other places in the world and America."
- Embargoed: 2nd December 2016 21:05
- Keywords: Sully Sully: Miracle on the Hudson Tom Hanks Aaron Eckhart movie screening Medal of Freedom
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA00358TY8GD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hollywood star Tom Hanks said he was "glad" and "fortunate" to be selected as a recipient of the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom - the highest civilian honour in the United States.
"That's extraordinary. It's quite a group of people, I mean everybody from Admiral Grace Hopper to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lorne Michaels and myself. Look, I'm just a dumb kid from Oakland, California, I don't know how any of this happened but I'm glad, I'm very fortunate that I've been able to work enough that it rates such a nod from such a man as the President of the United States," Hanks told Reuters in London on Thursday (November 17), a day after the White House made the announcement.
President Barack Obama will present awardees, including rocker Bruce Springsteen, Motown soul singer Diana Ross, former basketball champion Michael Jordan and actor Robert De Niro, with their medals at a White House ceremony on November 22.
When asked how it felt to be among Obama's last recipients, Hanks replied: "Well bittersweet cause, you know, we have term limits, if he was running again I would've voted for another four years. It ends up being so much of the - what I think is - so much of the promise of the United States. Look, I'm an American, there's no getting around it. I've been able to enjoy the great benefits of my country and my upbringing."
The Oscar-winning actor was in London for a special screening of "Sully: Miracle on the Hudson". The drama, directed by Clint Eastwood, is inspired by the real-life U.S. Airways pilot who landed a damaged plane on the Hudson River in the middle of winter, saving all 155 people on-board.
Hanks, known for his roles in "Forrest Gump", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Cast Away", also commented on his return as Woody in the "Toy Story" series.
"Well it's ['Toy Story 4'] been bumped to 2018 I think now but we've already started recording, so it's in the works," he said.
"The movies are made in such tiny increments over long periods of time. We go into the recording studio and there's a prepared text and you go off that text and you keep experimenting with it, and then they take what you've recorded and they put it through another ring of creativity and alterations. So...I can't wait to see what they've got Woody up to," he added.
"Sully", which has already opened in the U.S. and several other territories, will hit UK cinemas on December 2. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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