ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040005
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TORONTO
SOURCE: RICK HOLTER DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Forget making a hit. After directing his first film, the '60s-era rock 'n' roll romp ``That Thing You Do!,'' Tom Hanks feels more like the target of a hit.
``I wasn't prepared for the physical beating,'' says the two-time Oscar winner, echoing a familiar refrain among the actors-turned-directors who populated last month's Toronto International Film Festival and dominate the fall movie lineup.
``I thought I was prepared for that because of making so many big movies. But there's a huge difference between being the guy waiting to be called from his trailer and the guy who never gets to go in his trailer. It's not just in the shooting of the movie; it's the six months prior to that and the six months after. It's pretty brutal.''
And Hanks - who also wears the hats of screenwriter, supporting actor and even, at times, composer for ``That Thing,'' which opens today - has newfound compassion for the folks who've been directing him all these years.
``I think I'll be a different actor now on movie sets where I'm not directing,'' he says, ``just because I know how much pressure these guys are under.''
So why do it?
``It began as a sort of test for me,'' he says, explaining that he'd never had a powerful urge to direct. But the idea of re-creating the innocent fun of the early '60s grew on him. ``I didn't want to direct until I had something that I knew better than anybody else,'' he says.
Plus, writing the script was a way to escape the numbing effects of ``the `Forrest Gump' trophy run season,'' and pre-production kept him fresh between stops on the ```Apollo 13' celebrity mule train.''
The grind won't keep him from directing again, he says, although he has no immediate plans to get behind the camera. (Next up, after his recent pullout from the screen adaptation of ``Primary Colors,'' is an acting-only return in Steven Spielberg's ``Saving Private Ryan.'')
``I didn't shoot anybody - although I wanted to a couple of times. But there were also some amazing moments where stuff happened so magically and so easily with the cast that I couldn't believe how much fun it was,'' he says with the characteristic enthusiasm that buoyed his young cast.
``He had so much passion,'' says Steve Zahn, 27, who plays ``That Thing's'' comic cut-up guitarist. ``With Tom, there are moments - the moments you can't really describe - where it's important that you don't say `Cut.' He understands what you're thinking, where you're coming from. You feel like you're, um, an actor. That's pretty exciting.''
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Tom Hanks (left) and the cast of "That Thing You Do":by CNB``I think I'll be a different actor now on movie sets where I'm not
directing,'' Hanks says. color.