Huge Responsibility Playing Real People On Screen: Tom Hanks

Los Angeles: Actor Tom Hanks feels a "huge responsibility" when he plays "real people" onscreen.

Hanks has played the lead characters in a number of biographical films, including congressman Charlie Wilson in Charlie Wilson's War, Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks, pilot Chesley Sullenberger in Sully, and the titular mariner in Captain Phillips.

He thinks the movies often become an accepted "official record" of events, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"I play real people a lot. And it is a huge responsibility. Anytime you are playing somebody who was alive, for good or for bad, that performance becomes a version of an official record of what happened: what motivated them, what obstacles they faced, and how they got through their particular struggle," Hanks told W magazine.

"There's a degree of leeway that you can allow yourself as long as you're not turning good guys into bad guys, or knowledge into ignorance," he added.