Tom Hanks has been something of a male lighthouse in the storm of Hollywood's sexual misconduct allegations. The Big actor seems like one of the only men in Hollywood that has emerged unscathed from allegations that have rocked the industry.
In a recent Hollywood Reporter roundtable, Hanks explained that he believed power was the real reason behind the sexual misconduct that plagues his industry, and that he isn't surprised by it in the slightest.
He told the roundtable of James Franco, Willem Defoe, John Boyega, Sam Rockwell and Gary Oldman:
There are some people who go into this business because they get off on having power. And the times they feel the most powerful, which is why they went into the business, are when they are hitting on somebody who's underneath them, [and] I don't necessarily mean completely sexually. There are predators absolutely everywhere.
He himself has been privy to harassment issues on his own movie sets and recounted a story of dealing with it in one of his own productions. When asked why he thought people believed their behaviour was reasonable, he suggested, 'Well, we're in the circus and we're on the road, so therefore the rules don't really apply.'
Watch Hanky (that's what we call him now) speak words of wisdom here:
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
