Every parent has an idea or two for a child’s big project. Tom Hanks’ idea for his son’s big project was a titan in the sci-fi world. Colin Hanks has revealed that his father pushed hard to cast William Shatner in the title role of The Great Buck Howard, the 2008 comedy the two made together.
Colin told the story on Dropping Names, the podcast hosted by Star Trek: The Next Generation stars Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes. He had spent months trying to get the script off the ground. “We were having a really hard time, and I ended up bringing it to my dad,” he said.
Tom Hanks came aboard as a producer and also played Colin’s disapproving on-screen father. “He loved it. So he came on and we produced it and we would have these conversations about who to get, and he really pushed for William Shatner,” Colin recalled.
The part was Buck Howard, a fading mentalist who was once Johnny Carson’s favorite guest. The character was inspired by the Amazing Kreskin. Colin said his father’s instinct was sound. “Quite honestly he would have been great,” he said.
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The conversation took a turn when Colin mentioned a gag he fought to keep. “There was a particular joke that we didn’t want to lose that involved George Takei,” he said. In the film, Buck has had a falling-out with Takei, who played Sulu opposite Shatner’s Captain Kirk on the original Star Trek. The two actors have traded barbs publicly for years. Colin admitted the connection had never occurred to him. “I’m only now putting together that there’s this Star Trek connection,” he said.
Director Sean McGinly floated another big name, possibly Al Pacino, Colin said, though he could not remember for certain, and nothing came of it. Then John Malkovich entered the picture. “Malkovich came around and he was just so intrigued and entertained by just the delusions of grandeur that the character had,” Colin said.
He named Malkovich as the costar who made him most nervous and then surprised him most. “He was such a delight and so just genuinely funny,” he said.
The film premiered as the Salt Lake City opening-night selection of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It reached theaters in March 2009, with a cast that included Emily Blunt and Steve Zahn alongside both Hanks men. Shatner has since made his own appearance on Dropping Names, which makes the Star Trek link Colin missed hard to overlook.
Shatner would have been a great choice, to be sure. But by Colin’s telling, the film found its Buck Howard anyway, and Malkovich did a great job inhabiting every one of the character’s delusions.
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