Tom Hanks says new film Greyhound has lessons about Covid-19 pandemic and how we should act

Greyhound tells the story of a rookie captain and his crew escorting an Atlantic convoy during World War II

Hanks, who was the first Hollywood celebrity to catch Covid-19, says the film teaches about responsibility and survival

Reading Time:3 minutes

Tom Hanks (right) in a still from Greyhound. Hanks was the first Hollywood A-lister to catch Covid-19. Photo: Apple TV+ via AP

Published: 11:53am, 7 Jul 2020Updated: 12:06pm, 7 Jul 2020

Tom Hanks is “heartbroken” that his World War II thriller must skip the big screen due to the pandemic – but hopes it can still teach audiences at home a thing or two about acting decently in a global crisis.

Greyhound, out on Apple TV+, was written by and stars Hanks as a rookie captain escorting a convoy of Allied ships as they cross the freezing North Atlantic, hounded by Nazi U-boats.

The film follows a destroyer’s terrified young crew crossing the treacherous ocean beyond the range of air cover, bound together in life-and-death responsibility for protecting the fleet and each other.

“Those guys on the ship … all they can do is what’s expected of them, and hope for some combination of providence and serendipity to see them through,” said Hanks. “Covid-19, no one knows how long it’s going to go on, no one knows who’s going to die because of it … you don’t have to go very far to see the correlations and the similarities to the war years,” he told a virtual news conference.

Hanks should know. The Saving Private Ryan star and Band of Brothers producer in March became the first Hollywood A-lister to contract the deadly virus, which has killed more than 130,000 in the United States. Contrasting today’s simple instructions to socially distance, wash hands and wear a mask with World War II sailors pulling together as torpedoes tear through the icy waters and slammed into ships’ hulls, Hanks sounds indignant.