Tom Hanks explains why 35 is the 'hardest' of any age — and why he's 'in better shape now'
"Life is such a burden!"
For Tom Hanks, age ain't nothing but a number. In fact, he'd go so far as to say he wouldn't choose to be 35 again, even if he had the choice.
The 68-year-old star, who plays a vast range of ages in his new film Here via de-aging technology, made the comments when he was recently asked by Entertainment Tonight if there was a specific age he portrayed that he'd want to experience again.
"No. Look, I'm 68 years old, the hardest for us was when we were playing 35," he says of working on the film. Speaking of real life, he added, "That time where your metabolism stops, gravity starts tearing you down, your bones start wearing off, you stand differently — I think I'm in better shape now."
When ET pointed out that he looks "great," the veteran actor had an explanation all ready. "You know why?" he replied. "Because my kids are grown up, I'm getting decent exercise, and I can eat right. You can't do that when you're 35. Life is such a burden!"
Monica Schipper/WireImage
Tom Hanks attends the world premiere screening of 'Here'When the journalist said everyone should get on Hanks' plan, he downplayed it, though: "Dude, I'm just doing what my 68-year-old, type 2 diabetes, just maintaining the temple baby. That's all I'm trying to do,"
Thirty years after the release of Forrest Gump, Hanks reunites with that film's director Robert Zemeckis and star Robin Wright in Here, which hits theaters Nov. 1. The film tells the story of multiple generations of families who inhabit the same home over the course of a century, with Hanks and Wright once again portraying a couple.
Hanks also told PEOPLE on the red carpet at the film's world premiere that “it's good to look young again,” but, “it's not great to be young again."
And while seeing himself de-aged was “great,” he told the outlet, “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.”
Put another way, he concluded, “I'd rather be as old as I am.”
Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.
Zemeckis co-wrote the script with Forrest Gump scribe Eric Roth based on the 2014 graphic novel, which was adapted from a comic strip Richard McGuire created in 1989. The film also stars Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody), David Fynn (The Mauritanian), Ophelia Lovibond (Guardians of the Galaxy), Nicholas Pinnock (For Life), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Knock at the Cabin), and Anya Marco Harris.
