Tom Hanks Says It's 'Good to Look Young Again' inHere— But He'd 'Rather Be as Old as I Am' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Tom Hanks at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Here’ Oct. 25; in ‘Here’.Photo:Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Sony Pictures

Jon Kopaloff/Getty; Sony Pictures

Tom Hanksis reflecting on the “kooky” process of digital de-aging in hisnew movie,Here.

“It’s good to look young again,” he tells PEOPLE on the red carpet of the movie’s world premiere at AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 25. But, adds Hanks, 68, “it’s not great to be young again."

Here(in theaters Nov. 1), which reunites the two-time Oscar winner withForrest GumpdirectorRobert Zemeckisand costarRobin Wright, spans decades in its depiction of a single plot of land. Hanks and Wright, 58, play Richard and Margaret Young in a wide array of ages as the story chronicles their home life.

“It was kooky,” quips Hanks. “That was like the gimmicky kind of aspect of it, because you could do that with regular makeup if you want to do that. But because we have this other super fast-filter computer that happened right then and there, we don’t have to wait for the post-production process to view [ourselves as young].”

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in ‘Here’.SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC

But while seeing himself de-aged was “great,” he adds, “look, I’m 68. The much more difficult part that was both physical and spiritual emotionally is when Richard and Margaret are 35 and 42 — when the aging process just begins to kick in and you no longer are able to spring up off a couch. And you’re not yet to a place where life slows down completely.”

So when it comes to playing different ages, Hanks’ takeaway was simple: “I’d rather be as old as I am.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

(Left-right:) Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Robert Zemeckis at the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Here’ Oct. 25.VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

“I’ve always been attracted to technology that helps me to tell a story,” Zemeckis said in a January 2023 statement aboutthe movie’s use of Metaphysic, a digital effects companyfamousfor its@DeepTomCruiseaccounts on social media. “WithHere, the film simply wouldn’t work without our actors seamlessly transforming into younger versions of themselves. Metaphysic’s AI tools do exactly that, in ways that were previously impossible!”

source: people.com