US actor
Tom Hanks on choosing between happiness and loneliness
Actor Tom Hanks talks about loneliness in old age. photo
© Ian West/PA Wire/dpa
Is it a good idea to withdraw from one’s environment as you get older? Tom Hanks has a firm opinion on this. He warns against leading your own life in a minimal version.
The US actor Tom Hanks is open to outside influences. “Of course everyone has the right to their own kind of privacy,” said the 66-year-old of the German Press Agency.
“But if you don’t open your life to the influences, experiences and also inspirations that you get from others, life will be very limited. And I think living a limited life is sad.”
In his latest film, A Man Named Otto, directed by Marc Forster, Hanks portrays an aging pedant who has largely withdrawn from his neighbors and former friends aside from petty admonitions and unnecessary bickering. This is “the mistake a lot of people make as they get older,” Hanks said. They believed less would be better. “And finally you start to lead a minimal version of life in which your own life actually disappears.” Hanks, on the other hand, emphasized the value of togetherness: “The spirit of a community makes the difference between happiness and loneliness.”
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