Tom Hanks is not interested in taking his new movie The Post to the White House. The actor refused to attend a screening of the film even if he was invited.
Hanks thinks it is not appropriate to attend a screening of The Post at the White House given the context of the film. The political thriller, from director Steven Spielberg, is a true story. It recounts the life of the top editors of The Washington post when they published the Pentagon Papers in 1971, despite threats from former U.S. President Richard Nixon.
The Oscar winner plays the role of famed editor Ben Bradlee, whose real name is Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee. During his time as executive editor of The Washington Post, Brandlee oversaw the publication of the Pentagon Papers. He also allowed the publication of the stories about the Watergate scandal, which at that time, documented by journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.
"This is the moment where, in some ways, our personal choices are going to have to reflect our opinions. We have to start voting, actually, before the election. So, I would probably vote not to go," Hanks tells the Hollywood Reporter in an interview about The Post.
It makes sense for the actor to decline a screening invitation, even if coming from current U.S. President Donald Trump himself. Recently, the U.S. President called almost all media as "fake news." In January, he took to his Twitter and personally attacked Hank's The Post co-star Meryl Streep. He called Streep as one of the most "overrated" stars in Hollywood. The actress responded to the insult with a speech at the Golden Globes, although she did not name drop Trump in her speech. These reasons make it understandable why Hanks would not want to take his movie to the White House.
"I don't think I would. Because I think that at some point - look, I didn't think things were going to be this way last November. I would not have been able to imagine that we would be living in a country where neo-Nazis are doing torchlight parades in Charlottesville [Va.] and jokes about Pocahontas are being made in front of the Navajo code talkers," Hanks adds in his interview.
The Post, with screenplay from Elizabeth Hannah and Josh Singer, comes out in U.S. theaters on Dec. 22. The film also stars Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, and Bradley Whitford, to name a few.
