Hanks has directed two feature films and several miniseries episodes, but concludes that true directors are born into the belief that it's the greatest job in the world. He is not. He also believes every director should be required to act, and every actor should produce — just to understand how hard the other job is.
Where this was said
At 45:42 · chapter starts 41:51
Sean sets up his question with ostentatious self-deprecation, and it turns out to be the episode's most quotable revelation: the volleyball was absolutely named after Rita Wilson, and Tom and Rita are approaching 34 years of marriage. Bill Broyles wrote the name in as a tribute. The film took six years from the first conversation between Hanks and Broyles to cameras rolling. Then Sean pivots to one of the episode's funniest stories: working on Will & Grace, he and a colleague got extremely high and decided to watch the Cast Away plane crash sequence on DVD. The friend had a brand-new Sony setup and couldn't get it to work. Sean, completely stoned, told him with total authority that Sony had a new voice-activated system — you just say the name of the movie into the machine. The friend turned around and said 'Cast Away' into the DVD player. Twice. Tom Hanks notes that Bob Zemeckis never cut to an exterior shot of the plane during the crash, keeping the tension entirely from the passenger perspective.
Tom Hanks and screenwriter Bill Broyles began discussing Cast Away approximately six years before cameras rolled.
Cast Away took six years from the first conversation between Hanks and screenwriter Bill Broyles to cameras rolling. Broyles came up with the volleyball and named it Wilson as a tribute to Hanks's wife Rita Wilson — a detail Hanks revealed nearly broke Sean Hayes.
The volleyball named Wilson in Cast Away was a deliberate tribute to Tom Hanks's wife Rita Wilson, written by screenwriter Bill Broyles.
At the time of recording in 2021, Tom Hanks noted he and Rita Wilson were approaching 34 years of marriage.
Completely stoned, Sean Hayes convinced a friend who had just bought a new Sony DVD player that it was voice-activated. The friend earnestly said 'Cast Away' into the machine — twice — while Hayes suffocated with laughter behind him.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
New York draws thousands of young, talented performers every year chasing Broadway stardom — but the hard truth is that most of them never make it. Zelig Williams was one of the rare exceptions.
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