Tom Hanks Cast as Lead in The Da Vinci Code

By James Wray Nov 15, 2004, 0:00 GMT

NEWSWEEK has learned, Grazer and director Ron Howard, the Oscar-winning duo behind "A Beautiful Mind," have settled on an actor to play "The Da Vinci Code's" lead role of globe-trotting scholar Robert Langdon. Perhaps you've heard of him: Tom Hanks. Grazer and Howard helped make Hanks a star with their 1984 comedy "Splash"; they rehired him 11 years later for "Apollo 13," which earned the filmmakers their first best-picture nomination. But Howard insists that friendship alone doesn't explain Hanks's casting. Much of the action in "The Da Vinci Code" is cerebral—solving riddles, cracking codes. At one point, there's even a heart-stopping Boolean keyword search at a London library. "Tom is an exciting actor to watch thinking," Howard says. "We probably don't need his status from a box-office standpoint"—by now, "The Da Vinci Code" sells itself—"but he gives Langdon instant legitimacy."

At the moment, Grazer and Howard are finishing next summer's "The Cinderella Man," a Russell Crowe boxing drama, so they're taking their time casting "Da Vinci." But they've settled on a guiding principle that's sure to please fans: they plan to hire—get this—actual foreign actors to play the book's foreign characters. "If there's any book that's supposed to be an international thriller," says Grazer, "this is it." One recent Oscar winner, he says, inquired about the role of Parisian cryptologist Sophie Neveu, "and she could easily do it. But I think the audience would be let down a bit. They expect a French girl." Internet fans will be happy to hear that Jean Reno, their pick to play bullish cop Bezu Fache, is on Grazer's shortlist...more

Read more on The Da Vinci Code novel including our review in the database.

Source: Newsweek