It has been so many years since I've watch this film but it is one of my favs. It was so fun to watch all the great scenes again and check out all the actors. Tom Hanks really pulled in all his connections. His wife Rita did an awesome job as the very sexy cocktail server and his son Colin was the geeky escort for Faye into the Showcase. He was so cute just standing there gawking at how gorgeous she looked.
Anyone else have actors they picked out as Tom's buddies?
Peter Scolari goes back to Bosom Buddies. I don't know if they're actually bosom buddies, but they certainly know each other.
And he apparently knew Holmes Osborn (Guy's dad) since they were stage actors together in the '70s.
Tom Hanks' daughter is an extra in one scene, but you barely see her. She's another customer in the dress shop Fay goes to.
He also used Chris Isaak (as Ed White) in Apollo 13, but I'm not aware of any connection between them other than professional.
One more along the same lines: Chris Ellis (Phil Horace) was also in Apollo 13, as Deke Slayton. He's an actor, so that's not particularly remarkable. For that matter, Steve Zahn was in "From the Earth to the Moon" as an astronaut (Elliot See) too, though only for about a minute and a half.
Tracy Reiner is the Annette Funicello knockoff ("Anita") in Weekend at Party Pier. She's also Penny Marshall's daughter, and Hanks and Marshall have collaborated a fair amount. Tracy was ALSO in Apollo 13 (obviously not as an astronaut) and had a significant part in A League of Their Own.
Jonathan Demme has a cameo - he directed Hanks in Philadelphia a few years earlier, in a part that did some good for his career.
I just saw the film, I'm not a big Tom Hanks fan so I did not realize that was his son and wife.
shareChris Isaak was not in Apollo 13. He was in From the Earth to the Moon.
shareTom Hanks really pulled in all his connections.It's easy to think that (I did in the beginning), but I just tend to think of it as Hanks marshalling familiar resources. Between That Thing You Do! and Philadelphia, both movies share the same DP (Tak Fujimoto), the same composer (Howard Shore), Jonathan Demme, Obba Babatundé; and those are off the top of my head (although, that may be all of it). But if you're assuming the director's chair for the first time, it makes sense to bring aboard people who you're comfortable with.
The guy who did the announcing at Hollywood Television Showcase was Bob Ridgley, who was one of the corporate lawyers in Philadelphia. I recognized him because he used to do some commercials in the 60s dressed up like John Wayne, and did a good imitation of him.
shareGedde Watanabe was one of the reporter/photographers at the Playtone headquarters. He was in "Volunteers" with Hanks.
The Breaking Bad guy was astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and he was a REMF in Saving Private Ryan.
For some reason, I noticed that Liv Tyler, Chris Ellis, and Gedde Watanabe were all in "Armageddon", too.
The Breaking Bad guy is Bryan Cranston and he was in From the Earth to the Moon as well.
shareClint Howard: he's the radio DJ in this movie and a NASA guy in Apollo 13, as well as other shared movies too I'm sure.
shareOh yeah... Clint Howard was in Splash and From the Earth to the Moon as well... Plus he's Ron Howard's brother and Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are always uniting for movies.
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