LOS ANGELES – Tom Hanks brings a double dose of eccentricity to his role in “A Man Called Otto.”
Honestly, it’s initially shocking to see Hollywood’s universally anointed nicest guy, who won an Oscar as the innocent Forrest Gump, turn into Otto the Grump.
But for the grumpy skeptics, Hanks, 66, explains that he had years of preparation for the role just dealing with the annoyances of Otto’s life. Like satellite TV.
“You know how DirecTV has a grid telling you where all the channels are?” Hanks asks moments after happily sitting down to chat in a Beverly Wilshire hotel suite. “For some reason they just change. So what used to be channel 151 is now somewhere in the 500s. And you have to look for it. Or is the new network more complicated than a legal notice from a commercial for medical prescription.”
He’s just getting started, but you get the point. Hanks can make the cranky walk to comedic drama “Otto” (in theaters nationwide on Friday).
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Widower Otto Anderson, hardened by the death of his wife, leads an increasingly isolated existence. Along with the perma-scowl, Hanks has developed an “angry rage beat” with his knuckles for Otto’s waterproof shoe gait, which speeds up when his neighbor’s dog urinates on his lawn in Pittsburgh or the visitors violate parking permit regulations.
Hanks can thank fellow “Otto” producer (and wife of 35 years) Rita Wilson for endorsing the role. When the couple watched the Oscar-nominated 2015 Swedish film “A Man Called Ove” based on the bestselling novel by author Fredrik Backman, Wilson immediately thought of his wife for an American remake of the dark comic drama.
“There’s a narrative about my husband that says he’s the nicest guy in Hollywood. That’s true,” says Wilson. “But that doesn’t mean he can’t access anger, loneliness and dislike.”
These feelings are not created in a vacuum. Wilson also saw Hanks’ legendary and technology-induced familial irritability.
“My God, where there’s Tom and technology, forget it. When he’s trying to get the TV to work, just leave the room,” says Wilson. “Everybody knows it.”
Hanks reveals the failed attempts to discipline his four children – Colin, 45; Isabel, 40; Chet, 32; and Truman, 27 — earned him the unfortunate parenting nickname “Angry Buddy Holly.”
“That’s because my standard disciplinary questioning always started with, ‘Okay, let me get this straight.’ “Hanks says. “Whatever came after that was always a stupid dad complaint.”
Like his Otto persona, Hanks’ inner irascibility was never taken seriously.
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“I once told my kids, ‘Stop it, or I’ll hit you.’ And I was serious. It shows how angry I was,” says Hanks. “Since then, I’ve received cards and posters with inscriptions like, ‘Dear Daddy, I’m going to spank you.’ “
But “any frown is just bark, no bite,” says Hanks of his family business.
“Otto” hits theaters with the Hanks family receiving some scrutiny amid a wave of “baby nepo” attention among famous Hollywood families. Both Wilson and Hanks insist that casting son Truman in his first film role as Otto’s younger self was director Marc Forster’s idea. But Hanks is not apologetic.
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“It’s a family business. If we owned a bodega or ran a plumbing business, all the kids would be working shifts, especially during the inventory period,” says Hanks. “Then there’s the dead touch aspect. Take pictures of us at 26 and we’re exactly the same human. Except he’s taller and better looking than his dad was at that age.”
Truman’s channeling of a younger, more passionate Otto serves as a contrast to the older, more grumpy version. But there were limits to how nervous the behavior could be in delicate times. Hanks and screenwriter Dave Magee carefully crafted an exchange between Otto and a neighboring dog owner to ensure the comic ridicule was clear.
“There were discussions,” says Hanks of efforts to prevent offense. “We started with, ‘I’m going to throw that dog over the roof.’ Then ‘I’m going to kick that dog over the roof’ and it ended with ‘I swear to God I’m going to kick that dog of yours over the roof’. “
In real life, disdain for dog discharge was not an otoism Hanks could relate to.
“In general, people are conscientious about using doggy bags,” says Hanks optimistically. “But look, I believe all of us are only two degrees away from going full Otto all the time.”
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