Tom Hanks (‘The Worst Neighbor in the World’): “Diversity was said to be bad for the United States, but it’s our strength”

In his long career, Tom Hanks has embodied countless characters who have settled both in the history of cinema and in the memory of the public. From the good boy of ‘Forrest Gump’ to Captain John H. Miller of ‘Saving Private Ryan’, obviously passing through the prison guard Paul of ‘The Green Mile’ or the unmistakable voice of Woody in ‘Toy Story’. For all of these reasons (and more), Hanks has been called the nicest guy in all of Hollywood. “The truth is, I’m not an idiot. I wake up in the morning quite happy, because I like what I do. I think I was very lucky. The person who first hired me said to me: ‘You have to show up there and you have to respect everyone, you have to respect their work ethic.’ An actor’s duty is to show up, be punctual, know the script and respond a bit to what the other actors give you. If that’s considered cool, then phenomenal. I buy!”replied the actor along with director Marc Forster and actress Mariana Treviño in an interview with eCartelera about his new film, “The Worst Neighbor in the World.”

It is an adaptation of Fredrick Backman’s novel and Swedish film ‘A Man Called Ove’. Although the protagonist of the original book is Swedish, the maxim of him can be extrapolated from anywhere in the world: a grumpy old man, extremely disciplined, orderly and solitary, who does not appreciate company and hates his neighbors. So, Forster saw a perfect opportunity to bring it to American soil: “We’re very close to the book, almost closer than the original film. Otto is a universal character, this character can show up in all cultures. He’s a bit Shakespearean. I think there will be more versions in the future. We adapted it not to lighten it, but to make it more realistic with American culture and audiences.”says the director of “World War Z”.

Otto Anderson, champion of order and nostalgic for bygone days, is a hardened American who loves things in their place. When a Mexican family moves into the house across the street, Otto will have to rethink everything. Thematically he is very reminiscent of ‘Gran Torino’, while the harsh and plaintive character of a 66-year-old Tom Hanks is very close to Clint Eastwood. “It’s funny because I’ve heard this comparison before, from a curmudgeon who doesn’t like immigrants or his neighbors”the actor tells us, “What I saw in Otto was a person with a deep crisis of faith in the future. He has suffered many losses in his life, he doesn’t have a job, he doesn’t have a wife, he doesn’t have his own family. He is not necessarily angry about the present he has to live in, but about the future that is coming. He is a person who doesn’t want to get up in the morning and thinks only of protesting, which is a real tragedy”.

As a counterpoint, Mariana Treviño is a Mexican mother who approaches her lonely neighbor through food: “The first dish that was presented had to be another, because the character at the beginning had a different profile, but we changed it to the mole with chicken because it’s a dish that I think everyone likes. People from all over the world Who try it he immediately says it’s comforting, it makes you feel good, it’s a dish that describes Mexican sophistication. I think Mexicans have expressed their soul and the complexity of all the richness of their culture through food, all that cultural density is expressed in a dish that is also very homely and easy to share.. It’s the first cuddle for Otto’s character, to make him feel at home.”says the actress.

launch a message

In the post-Donald Trump era, the United States is still recovering from such an aggressive policy towards the Latino community, especially the Mexican community. In addition to real estate speculation or relationships with the elderly, another of the central themes of ‘The Worst Neighbor in the World’ is immigration. “It’s been a sensitive issue throughout history”its director tells us, “It’s becoming more and more because there are more people and fewer resources. This film works on creating a community, on being connected through the heart. It has a feeling of vitality, of energy for life. That Marisol expresses herself through food builds bridges on a cultural level. The immigration problem is global. I love that this story is about how people come together, how people manage to live together“.

For his part, Tom Hanks has his opinion on this matter very clear, and he explained it this way: “The United States is a land of immigrants. And here I will quote Bono of U2, who says you can take a DNA test and see the combination that is in every American. You will find everything from Scandinavian to sub-Saharan African blood or Asian. America is made up of immigrants except Native Americans. 98% of American citizens have blood from other countries. This is science, it is undeniable. I think it says a lot about our country: our strength lies in diversity I think there is something very powerful about that part of the United States, that a person has to come from a certain danger, from a lack of opportunity, and you come to a country where everything is based on meritocracy, where if you work , if you educate your children, if you pay your taxes, and if you’re a good citizen, you can be an American whether you were born there or not, and that’s something I think is instantly captured on film. Isol, who is a Mexican who comes in the United States because in Mexico n there are no opportunities. At one point it was sold that this diversity was bad for the United States, but I believe it is our country’s greatest strength. We always have room for people who follow the rules and do things right.”.

As a Mexican woman, Treviño has experienced those prejudices about her person first-hand: “I had that experience not only in the United States, but in different countries. Sometimes it is difficult to live with, to remove stereotypes or prejudices that we have about countries like, in this case, Latin America. But I like that in this film it’s about breaking with that vision. The Mexican family finds itself in a position where its idiosyncrasies and its way of being, the airs it carries with it, help to demolish the rigidity, to healr”. In turn, Treviño analyzes how the representation of Latinos in the sector is changing: “There has been a lot of progress in this regard. Hollywood is a global platform and opening up these spaces for a more reliable representation of the Latino essence is fantastic. They don’t have to be Latino characters, as happens with Diego Luna in ‘Star Wars’, for example“.

An area in danger

In addition to a message of hope for immigration to the United States, “The World’s Worst Neighbor” reflects on how the elderly are relegated to the background. And not only in fiction, but also in reality. You can see in the Hollywood industry itself how veteran actresses are offered far fewer lead roles than men. In this regard, Hanks is clear: “There is a discrepancy between the opportunities of aging women versus those of men. There are few roles that are offered to women, or far fewer, of course, than the opportunities I have now as an actor and at my age.. Also, men my age married to women 30 years younger are portrayed as having the greatest accomplishment in life to sleep with women much younger than you. Maybe not so much happens between writers, or producers, or directors, but it’s true that actresses have fewer opportunities. There’s no doubt, older women aren’t part of the formula in the same way as men. It’s also true that I’m 66, and I think there are more people like me in the world than 26-year-olds. I was born in a time when there was more procreation, so maybe people start to identify more with roles at this age”.

Following this alleged Hollywood crisis, another prism from which to approach is that of originality. Many of the projects that are released today are adaptations (of books or comics), remakes or continuations. Without going any further, the last Best Picture Oscar winner was none other than “CODA: The Sound of Silence,” an adaptation. “Goes for Seasons”Forster comments on this lack of originality, “Sometimes there are multiple adaptations, other times there are multiple originals. It fluctuates. What I believe is that the original book is a universal book, and it’s important to share that with the world. Shakespeare can consistently be an original. I think the book goes beyond cultures, it transcends them. It’s as important as it is fun or exciting. I think it’s original, even if it’s based on a book. But it’s also it is true that it is increasingly difficult to find works that are not based on intellectual property, not so much because we lack ideas, but rather because we lack funding”.

‘The World’s Worst Neighbor’ will hit theaters later December 28th.