‘Come on, man. I learned my lines’: Tom Hanks’ costars had to deal with an awkward moment during his new play

Tom Hanks is performing on stage again after more than ten years away from theater. But things have not been going perfectly smooth for the famous actor. The two-time Oscar winner is now starring in This World of Tomorrow, a new play that he helped write with James Glossman. During the early shows, Hanks has been forgetting what he is supposed to say on stage.

According to People, Hanks talked about these problems when he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert recently. The 69-year-old actor said he has already forgotten his lines a few times while performing. His fellow actors have had to watch him struggle to remember what comes next. The other stars in the show, Kelli O’Hara and Ruben Santiago-Hudson, have not been too happy about it.

Hanks said his costars look at him when he forgets his lines. Their faces seem to say, “Come on, man. I learned my lines, haven’t you learned yours?” He told Colbert about one night when he completely blanked out on stage. He called it “disappearing” because he had no idea what to say next.

Writing your own play does not make it easier

The actor, who has delivered some of the most memorable performances in film history, is now facing new challenges on stage. At least Hanks can joke about the situation. He told Colbert that being the writer of the play has one good thing about it.

“They are gonna have a real hard time firing me if I screw up,” he said. But even with that safety net, Hanks admits the whole thing has been really scary. He said working on the play has been nice and fun, but it is also one of the most frightening things he has done in his career.

Hanks explained why theater is so different from making movies. When you make a film, the director can change things around. The director can tell actors to skip lines or say something different. But theater does not work that way. “If it’s not on the page, it ain’t on the stage,” Hanks said.

Since he is one of the writers, he gets to decide what words are used. But that also means he has to make sure every word is right.

This job puts a lot of stress on Hanks. He talked about how he worries over small choices in the script. Should a character say “we have a problem” or should they say “we have a situation?” These little decisions keep him awake at night. Hanks said he wakes up thinking about which word sounds better over and over again.

This World of Tomorrow is playing at The Shed in New York City right now. The show will run for eight weeks and is set to end on December 21. Hanks plays a character named Bert Allenberry in the play. Bert is a scientist from the future who feels lonely.

He goes back in time to the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens to try to find love. This is the first time Hanks has acted on stage since 2013. Back then, he performed in a Broadway show called Lucky Guy. That role got him nominated for a Tony Award.

While Hanks works through his theater troubles, other famous actors have also been facing unexpected surprises in their lives recently.