Tom Hanks’ Top 3 Favorites From His Career Aren’t What Anyone Would Guess

These are Tom Hanks favorite films from his career.

By James Brizuela | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

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Ranking Tom Hanks’ top three films would be no easy task. The world-renowned actor has been on the screen since his foray on television back in the 1980s. Since then, Hanks has tacked nearly one hundred acting credits in the film industry. His iconic roles include the romantic lead in Sleepless In Seattle, Forrest Gump, Josh in Big, and Captain Miller in Saving Private Ryan. These four are just a few of Hank’s most iconic roles. However, these are not any of the roles that Hanks has named as his top three.

When Tom Hanks was recently asked which three films out of his massive career were his favorites, he selected Cast Away, A League of Their Own, and Cloud Atlas. The latter is one of his lowest-ranked films, according to critics. Cast Away and A League of Their Own make a ton more sense in relation to Tom Hanks’ prestigious career, being that he is well recognized for both. The actor explained that for his personal choices, he could only say which films he had the most fun making, not which were the best cinema around. Still, choosing Cloud Atlas is a bit of a conundrum, as the box office numbers and reviews were the middle of the road. When asked why Cloud Atlas was among his favorites to be a part of, Hanks had this to say about the cast: “fantastic people who were just trying to do the hardest, best work on a deep throw… making it was magical.”

Magical is not entirely the word that most would use in regards to the subpar adaptation of the Cloud Atlas book that was written by David Mitchell. Lily and Lana Wachowski were also part of the writing process and directing of the film. The Wachowskis were also the writers and directors of the famous Matrix trilogy. Cloud Atlas currently has a 66% audience and critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is not entirely the worst-reviewed film out there, but it is nowhere near as iconic as the rest of Tom Hanks’ repertoire has been.

cloud atlas tom hanks

A League of Their Own is more intuned with the films that most people associate with Tom Hanks. His portrayal of the rough and tough coach, Jimmy Dugan, is one that has been talked about since the film was released in 1992. “There’s no crying in baseball!” is ranked in the American Film Institute’s most iconic movie quotes. Still, when comparing this film to the rest of the list, it doesn’t hold a candle to Forrest Gump or Saving Private Ryan.

Cast Away makes the most sense in regards to iconic roles and films that Tom Hanks has been a part of. He was nominated for best actor at the Academy Awards and BAFTA for his portrayal of stranded FedEx worker, Chuck Noland. Even Wilson, the sports ball turned best friend to Chuck was so popular that it has been made fun of in popular culture by shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Family Guy.

There is no denying that Tom Hanks is one of the most iconic actors of our generation, but his top three films of his career will leave fans wondering why Hanks decided to leave out some of the work that has been and will still be talked about for years to come.