No angel, but Hanks is learning to live with his demons at last
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Director Ron Howard (left) and actor Tom Hanks with author Dan Brown at the premiere of 'Angels and Demons' in Rome Photo: Getty Images
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By Vicky Shaw in Rome
Tuesday May 5 2009
Five times Oscar-nominated actor Tom Hanks has revealed he no longer feels insecure about acting.
The 52-year-old actor and producer also said he has given up on being vain.
Hanks, who won Best Actor Oscars for 'Philadelphia' and 'Forrest Gump', said: "I no longer feel insecure about my acting. Early on I took any job that was offered, milking it for the money.
"I had no idea what I was doing -- that's when insecurity and self-loathing start."
Hanks's new film, 'Angels And Demons', sees him reprise the role of Robert Langdon from 'The Da Vinci Code'.
The film received a glittering premiere in Rome last night -- just one mile from the Vatican, where Catholic Church leaders have criticised the film as "outlandish rubbish".
Speaking about throwing away his vanity, Hanks said: "After a while you have to give up being vain.
"For a long time I wouldn't wear a hat because I thought it looked stupid.
"But guess what? This is what I look like in a hat, so who cares?
"In 'Angels And Demons' I have to wear a Speedo to go swimming. It takes a real man to slap on a Speedo and say: 'I'm ready for work'.
Rewarding
"And my face -- from one side it's decent, from the other it's as if someone carved a pumpkin.
"But this is the way I look, and I'm in the finest, most rewarding, artistic job."
Despite the success of 'The Da Vinci Code' as a book and film, the story was not well received by critics.
Hanks said: "The movie did OK with its faked contrivances and goofy hunt through the Priory of Sion, but you should have been in Cannes with us when it opened.
"The reception couldn't have been worse. Everyone slunk out of town with their heads between their shoulders."
But he had no doubts about making 'Angels And Demons', in which an ancient secret brotherhood threatens to blow up the Vatican.
He added: "Why would I hand this gig to someone else? I'm not stupid."
- Vicky Shaw in Rome
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