Tom Hanks on controversial ‘Elvis’ biopic: ‘What have I done?’

nypost.com:

upcoming biopic “Elvis.”The 65-year-old Oscar winner discussed why he decided to portray him — and how director Baz Luhrmann convinced him to do so — at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday.“I’m not interested in playing a bad guy just for the sake of, ‘Before I kill you, Mr.

Bond, perhaps you’d like a tour of my installations.’ That’s OK, I get it, but that’s for other stuff,” the “Forrest Gump” actor noted via People.Hanks donned prosthetics and hefty cosmetics to become the real-life legend, though he confessed at the French film fest that he “did not know what Colonel Tom Parker looked like.”He added that Luhrmann described the Colonel as a “great carney,” or carnival worker.“The carney’s job is to bring people to the glittering lights on the outside of town, promise them something they’ve never experienced before, and then, almost giving it to them, at a cost,” he said. “When he said that, I said, ‘I’m your man — now, please, show me a picture.’ “Unfortunately, Hanks realized he would need help from a makeup team.“When he showed me a picture of the Colonel, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, what have I done?'” he said of signing up for the contentious, controversial musical drama, which stars Austin Butler as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

The film has gotten some bad reviews already, with one critic labeling it “a nightmare” and another specifically calling out Hanks’ role as “possibly the most insufferable movie character ever conceived” and “arguably the least appealing performance of his career.” But Hanks apparently saw potential in the part.“[Parker was] a mercurial and brilliant man who at the same time made sure he lined his own pockets,” Hanks noted.