Tom Hanks’ latest project could be called “Saving President Biden.”
The Academy Award-winning actor narrated a video that premiered Thursday in support of Biden’s efforts to revive a country that’s two years into a pandemic and deeply divided. It begins with words of inspiration from poet Amanda Gorman, who spoke at the president’s inauguration.
“For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if we’re brave enough to be it,” Gorman recites as those words are printed across the screen.
Hanks can then be heard saying, “If we’re only we’re brave enough...,” before touting the nation’s resilience and calling the past two years the “most difficult many of us can remember.”
Axios reports that Hanks’ address was produced by Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee to mark the end of the 46th president’s first year in office. Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner whose films include “Saving Private Ryan,” “Philadelphia,” and “Big,” appears in the video, which features working class people from across the country including New York nurse Sandra Lindsay touting vaccines and record job growth.
“I can feel the change,” Lindsay says.
Biden’s pitch to the nation ends with the president appearing on screen.
“I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future,” he says.
The video will reportedly blanket airwaves throughout the day Thursday before being making the rounds digitally over the next week.
Biden’s message to the nation generated plenty of buzz on the internet, in no small part because it somewhat mirrored a scene from the 2007 animated movie “The Simpsons,” featuring Hanks doing a public relations spot for the U.S. government.
“Hello. I’m Tom Hanks. The U.S. government has lost its credibility, so it’s borrowing some of mine,” a cartoon Hanks says, trying to explain that a newly created giant crater is actually a new Grand Canyon. “This is Tom Hanks saying, if you’re going to pick a government to trust, why not this one?”
The Biden administration passed an historic trillion dollar infrastructure deal in late 2021 that’s expected to send billions of dollars to New York to strengthen roads and tunnels.
Hanks last appeared on Biden’s behalf a year ago when he hosted a star-studded “Celebrating America” extravaganza, marking the inauguration of the newly elected president. That included performances by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and the Foo Fighters.
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