Tom Hanks won his Oscars for serious roles in Forrest Gump and Philadelphia, but even his "kid theater" deserves some kudos!
The 59-year-old star appeared on The Tonight Show Thursday to promote Bridge of Spies and he and host Jimmy Fallon channeled their inner child to act out scenes that children had written. Given only the title of Hanks' new movie to work with, kids were asked to write up scenes based on what little information they had.
First up was a scene from 8-year-old Chris, who wrote a character who happened to stumble upon a bridge full of spies. Asking what they were up to, one of the spies, played by Fallon, responded, "What does it look like, dummy? It's a bridge of spies. Go away. We're spying."
Unsatisfied with Fallon's response, Hanks continued to pester him.
"You sure ask a lot of questions for someone who isn't a spy," Fallon noted.
The interrogation led Fallon's character to wonder if he was, in fact, a spy.
Finishing the scene, Hanks realized screenwriter Chris had some talent. "That deserved a second look," the Captain Phillips star said. "I think it really does."
Fallon and Hanks' second scene also involved a bridge full of spies, but it featured a tad more comedy than Chris' scene. Margaret (Hanks) and Joe (Fallon) approach the bridge where she explains why a ton of spies are gathered together.
"They are gonna build this new bridge somewhere in China or something," Margaret explained. "They are gonna call it Bridge of Spies cause they are finding spies and taping them together to make a bridge."
But why spies?!
"They didn't have a enough wood, so they are gonna use spies," she added.
Hanks and Fallon's final scene featured the most comedy, and at one point even the Tonight Show host couldn't contain his laughter.
Outfitted with an invisible pair of binoculars, Hanks told Fallon he could see spies on the horizon.
"I wish I could see them too," Fallon responded. "But you're the one with the binoculars."
After some back-and-forth conversation about the importance of friendship over spying, Hanks somehow ended up with the binoculars!
"Ha! You're such a loser," Hanks said. "Rule No. 1 of being a spy is never hand over your binoculars."
Watch the segment above to see just how Hanks tricked Fallon.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Hanks doesn't just appear in movies or "kid theater"; he's also in music videos! Watch to find out how he ended up in one of Carly Rae Jepsen's videos.