Tom Hanks ‘obvious choice’ for ‘Bridge of Spies’ role, says Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks reunite this fall for another war film, this time set in The Cold War. Based on true events, Bridge of Spies centers on a Brooklyn lawyer (Hanks) is tasked with defending a KGB spy (Mark Rylance) — and then with negotiating to trade him with the Soviet Union a captured American U-2 pilot.
“I think the character that Tom Hanks plays, James B. Donovan, he was what you would call the Standing Man,” Spielberg said in a production feature for the film, which has its new trailer – aptly titled “Standing Man.” “The stand-up kind of guy who stands up for what he believes in to be a universal truth, which is basically justice for all – regardless of what side of the Iron Curtain you are on. He was only interested in the letter of the law.”
“I thought Tom was the obvious choice to play Donovan,” Spielberg continued. “Tom’s own morality and his own sense of equality and fairness, and the fact that Tom does such good things in the world, by using, wisely, his celebrity and intelligence and points of view – he has so many of them – that I thought it was a good fit to play Donovan.”
Full details and synopsis below. Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan, Sebastian Koch, and Alan Alda also star. Check out the new tease, first released by Entertainment Weekly.
Bridge of Spies arrives in theaters October 16.
A dramatic thriller set against the backdrop of a series of historic events, DreamWorks Pictures/Fox 2000 Pictures’ “Bridge of Spies” tells the story of James Donovan, a Brooklyn lawyer who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on the near-impossible task to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot. Screenwriters Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen have woven this remarkable experience in Donovan’s life into a story inspired by true events that captures the essence of a man who risked everything and vividly brings his personal journey to life.
Directed by three-time Academy Award®-winning director Steven Spielberg, “Bridge of Spies” stars: two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks as James Donovan; three-time Tony Award® winner Mark Rylance as Rudolf Abel, a KGB agent defended by Donovan; Scott Shepherd as CIA operative Hoffman; Academy Award nominee Amy Ryan as James’ wife, Mary; Sebastian Koch as East German lawyer Vogel; and Academy Award nominee Alan Alda as Thomas Watters, a partner at Donovan’s law firm. The film is produced by Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger with Adam Somner, Daniel Lupi, Jeff Skoll and Jonathan King serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Matt Charman and three-time Academy Award winners Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. “Bridge of Spies” will be released in theaters on October 16, 2015.
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