„Dog and I Became Friends. The Star Did Not Become My Friend.” 35 Years Ago, There Was Reportedly a Misunderstanding Between Tom Hanks and the Director of the Comedy
Tom Hanks reportedly came into conflict with the fired director of a comedy in which he starred 35 years ago.
Tom Hanks is one of Hollywood's most-loved actors. The artist enjoys the affection of industry colleagues and fans, however, it turns out that not everyone likes him. According to various reports and suggestions from the director, Henry Winkler, their cooperation went poorly and became a source of conflict between them.
Winkler years ago was fired from the director's sit of the 1989 comedy, Turner and Hooch. Hanks had played the lead role in that production. Winkler, on the other hand, was involved in the project from the beginning, preparing for a long time to work on the set, on which he ultimately didn’t spend much time. And for this, it seems, he blames Hanks specifically, as he suggested as a guest on the podcast How to Fail with Elizabeth Day.
I did 11 weeks of preparation. I knew this dog, this slobbery mastiff and I became friends. The star did not become my friend.
When asked if he had Hanks in mind, he replied: “I probably do.” In a further statement, the filmmaker recalled a situation that was said to have impacted their relationship in a bad way, and suggested there that he was fired because of Hanks.
We were in Carmel, this little seaside wonderful town on the coast of California, looking for a location and a woman comes, honest to God, comes running out of a shop and says “Henry, Fonz! Oh, my god!” and I say, “And of course you know Tom Hanks.” The director of photography, when I was fired 13 days into filming said, “I knew that this was going to happen on that day in Carmel”.
However, it has never been confirmed that Hanks may have had any involvement in Winkler's dismissal. But a friend of both artists, Ron Howard, confirmed in 2020 during an interview for The Guardian that there was indeed some misunderstanding between the men, which they cleared up years later.
I'm friends with them both and both men felt compelled to come to talk to me about it. It was just one of those unfortunate things where they really had a working style that did not fit. It's been a lot of years, two men with a lot of water under the bridge.
Winkler himself said in a 2020 interview with TMZ that there was no conflict between him and Hanks, arguing, “What everybody says and what is true are two different things.” Hanks, on the other hand, never addressed the issue, leaving it without comment.
