Tom Hanks inThe Da Vinci Code(2006).Photo: Simon Mein/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock
Tom Hanksis looking back onThe Da Vinci Codeas “delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as the James Bond movies are to espionage.”
In a new interview withThe New York Times, published Friday, the 65-year-oldAcademy Awardwinner said he’s “not a cynic” when discussing history and his career — but when asked about whether he considered it cynical to make two sequels to 2006’sThe Da Vinci Code, he added, “God, that was a commercial enterprise. Yeah, those Robert Langdon sequels are hooey.The Da Vinci Codewas hooey.”
“I mean, [author]Dan Brown, God bless him, says, ‘Here is a sculpture in a place in Paris! No, it’s way over there. See how a cross is formed on a map? Well, it’ssortof a cross,’ " Hanks continued.
Of the books on which the film series is based, Hanks opined, “Those are delightful scavenger hunts that are about as accurate to history as theJames Bondmovies are to espionage.”
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Audrey Tautou and Tom Hanks inThe Da Vinci Code(2006).Simon Mein/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock
“But they’re as cynical as a crossword puzzle,” Hanks continued. “All we were doing is promising a diversion.”
And while he believes “There’s nothing wrong with good commerce, provided it is good commerce,” Hanks added, “By the time we made the third [film,Inferno], we proved that it wasn’t such good commerce.”
At the end of the day, he’s not complaining about having been part of theRon Howard-directed mystery-thriller trilogy, which made close to $1.5 billion worldwide at the box office.
“Let me tell you something else aboutThe Da Vinci Code,” Hanks said. “It was my 40th-something birthday. We were shooting in the Louvre at night. I changed my pants in frontof the Mona Lisa! They brought me a birthday cake in the Grand Salon! Who gets to have that experience? Any cynicism there? Hell no!”
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Robert Zemeckis(Forrest Gump) directed the movie, which also starsJoseph Gordon-Levittas the wise mentor and “conscience” Jiminy Cricket,Cynthia Erivoas the Blue Fairy,Keegan-Michael Keyas “Honest” John andLuke Evansas the villainous Coachman.Lorraine Braccoplays a new character, Sofia the Seagull.
source: people.com
