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Q: Tom Hanks is the quintessential good guy. Has he ever played a villain?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

The 2002 drama "Road to Perdition" is the closest Tom Hanks has come to playing a villain, but even that's a bit of a gray area.

Yes, his character, Michael Sullivan, is a hitman with the Irish mob, and sure, he is known as the Angel of Death for his kill count and efficiency. But he's also a devoted family man, and the movie is really about his redemption. The film is about him going on the run from his old organization in order to protect his son.

That nuance and depth of motivation is what sets that particular villain apart from most Hollywood bad guys, Hanks said in an interview on CBS's "The Early Show." "He has good motivations for doing very bad things."

In a 2013 interview with Total Film magazine, he stated his position unequivocally. "Look, playing bad, I am not interested, ever. ... I don't want to see bad guys who are just bad, you know? Why are they bad?"

That said, he would make an exception for James Bond. He told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper in 2015 that he would love to play an over-the-top Bond villain.

"I want to be the guy who says, 'Before I kill you, Mr. Bond, perhaps you would like a tour of our installation where the vents are wide enough for a man to crawl through. Unfortunately you will not have that opportunity, Mr. Bond.' I want to be that guy."

 

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