Tom Hanks Regrets Being Miscast In His Biggest Flop

When you think about the most likable, talented actors in Hollywood, one of the first names that probably comes to mind is Tom Hanks. The actor burst onto the scene in the 1980s and instantly became a hit with audiences. He really broke onto the scene with his performance in "Big," for which he earned his first nomination for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. He's gone on to act consistently over the last several decades, turning in legendary work in the likes of "Sleepless in Seattle," "Apollo 13," and "Saving Private Ryan," to name a few.

However, not every role can be iconic. Even the most prestigious actors have a few misfires to their name, and Hanks is no exception. He'd be the first to tell you that he's not particularly fond of his work in the 1990 film "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (via CinemaBlend), and he recently pointed out in an interview that he has a pretty good idea of why the film (and his performance in it) just wasn't up to snuff. 

When "The Bonfire of the Vanities" came out in 1990, Tom Hanks was a big-name star, but he was by no means the level of Hollywood royalty he enjoys today. In fact, he was coming off a string of success in the form of "Big" and "Turner & Hooch," but when "Vanities" came out in theaters, it was met with near-universal disdain. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "On film, Bonfire achieves a consistency of ineptitude rare even in this era of over-inflated cinematic air bags." So what exactly caused the beloved book to transform into a box office dud?

According to Hanks himself, it primarily came down to casting, as he stated, "Everybody was miscast, me particularly ... Brian De Palma deals with iconography more than filmmaking. He is the most uncompromising filmmaker — both in a good way and a bad way — that you'll ever come across. This is the guy who made 'Scarface.' So his take on it was just one of those things."

Hanks' miscasting stems from the actor being so likable and the character from the original novel "The Bonfire of the Vanities" needing to be superficially evil. It just didn't translate well on-screen, and audiences probably weren't too thrilled to see America's dad as such a detestable character. The finished product appears to be a mish-mash of tones and ideas, which is still regarded as one of the biggest misfires in Hollywood history.