Catch Me If You Can : Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg Interview - Catch Me If You Can


Oscar® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "Titanic") and two-time Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks ("Philadelphia," "Forrest Gump") engage in a game of cat and mouse in "Catch Me If You Can," under the direction of three-time Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg ("Saving Private Ryan," "Schindler's List").

Frank W. Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) worked as a doctor, a lawyer and as a co-pilot for a major airline-all before his 21st birthday. A master of deception, he was also a brilliant forger, whose skill at check fraud had netted him millions of dollars in stolen funds. FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) had made it his prime mission to capture Frank and bring him to justice, but Frank is always one step ahead of him, baiting him to continue the chase.


TOM HANKS (Carl Hanratty) earned praise from both critics and audiences this past summer for his portrayal of gangster Michael Sullivan in Sam Mendes' Depression-era drama "Road to Perdition. " One of only two actors in history to win back-to-back Best Actor Academy Awards®, Hanks won his first Oscar® in 1994 for his moving portrayal of AIDS-stricken lawyer Andrew Beckett in Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia. " The following year, he took home his second Oscar® for his unforgettable performance in the title role of Robert Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump. " He also won Golden Globe Awards for both films, as well as a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for the latter.

Hanks more recently garnered Academy Award®, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for his work in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan," and he last year won a Golden Globe Award and garnered his fifth Oscar® nomination for his role in "Cast Away. " He had previously won a Golden Globe Award and earned an Oscar® nomination for his portrayal of a little boy in a man's body in Penny Marshall's "Big," and received another Golden Globe nomination for his work opposite Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy smash "Sleepless in Seattle," directed by Nora Ephron.

In 1998, Hanks, Ryan and Ephron again scored a hit when they reunited for the romantic comedy "You've Got Mail. " The following year, Hanks starred in Frank Darabont's acclaimed drama "The Green Mile," for which he shared in a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Cast Performance.

Hanks' other film credits include starring roles in "A League of Their Own," "Turner & Hooch," "Punchline," "Nothing in Common," "Volunteers," "Bachelor Party" and "Splash. " The actor also lent his voice to the computer animated blockbusters "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2. "

Hanks' work on the big screen has also translated to success on the small screen. Following his critically acclaimed portrayal of astronaut Jim Lovell in Ron Howard's "Apollo 13," Hanks executive produced and hosted the acclaimed HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon. " He also directed one segment, and wrote or co-wrote several others, in addition to appearing in one episode. Hanks' work on the miniseries earned him Emmy, Golden Globe and Producers Guild Awards for Outstanding Miniseries, as well as an Emmy nomination for Best Director.

His collaboration with Steven Spielberg on the World War II drama "Saving Private Ryan" led to them teaming to executive produce the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," based on the book by Stephen Ambrose. Hanks also directed a segment and wrote another segment of the fact-based miniseries, which follows one group of paratroopers from boot camp to D-Day to the end of World War II. The show recently won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Miniseries. In addition, Hanks won an Emmy Award for Best Director, earned an Emmy nomination for Best Writing, and received another Producers Guild Award for his work on the project.

In 1996, Hanks made his successful feature film writing and directing debut with "That Thing You Do," in which he also starred. The film's title song received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Original Song. This year, under his own Playtone banner, Hanks, together with his wife, Rita Wilson, and partner, Gary Goetzman, produced the smash hit romantic comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding. " Budgeted at approximately $5 million, the film has to date grossed more than $200 million at the domestic box office.

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STEVEN SPIELBERG (Director/Producer) has directed, produced, or executive produced eight of the thirty top-grossing films of all time, including "Jurassic Park" and "E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial. " Among his myriad honors, he is a three-time Academy Award® winner, earning two Oscars® for Best Director and Best Picture for "Schindler's List," and a third Oscar® for Best Director for "Saving Private Ryan. " He has also received Academy Awardâ nominations for Best Director for "E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind. "

Spielberg's critically acclaimed World War II drama "Saving Private Ryan," starring Tom Hanks, was the highest-grossing release (domestically) of 1998. The film also won five Oscars®, including the one for Spielberg as Best Director, as well as two Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture (Drama) and Best Director. In addition, Spielberg was recognized by his peers with a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award, and shared with the film's other producers in the Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award. That year, the PGA also presented Spielberg with the prestigious Milestone Award for his historic contribution to the motion picture industry.

"Saving Private Ryan" also won Best Picture honors from the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, British and Broadcast Film Critics Associations, with the Los Angeles, Toronto and Broadcast Film Critics also naming Spielberg Best Director.

On the heels of "Saving Private Ryan," Spielberg and Hanks executive produced the miniseries "Band of Brothers" for HBO and DreamWorks Television. Based on the book of the same name by the late Stephen Ambrose, the fact-based World War II project recently won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Miniseries.

In 1994, Spielberg's internationally lauded "Schindler's List" was the year's most honored film, receiving a total of seven Oscarsâ, including the aforementioned nods for Best Picture and Best Director. The film also collected Best Picture honors from many of the major critics organizations, in addition to seven BAFTA Awards, including two for Spielberg. He also won the Golden Globe Award and received his second DGA Award.

Spielberg won his first DGA Award for his work on "The Color Purple" and earned DGA Award nominations for "E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Empire of the Sun," "Jaws" and "Amistad. " With nine in all, Spielberg has received more DGA Award nominations than any director in history, and, in 2000, he received the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute and the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg was raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona. He started making amateur films while still in his teens, later studying film at California State University, Long Beach. In 1969, his 22-minute short "Amblin" was shown at the Atlanta Film Festival, which led to a deal with Universal, making him the youngest director ever to be signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio.

Four years later, he directed the suspenseful telefilm "Duel," which garnered both critical and audience attention. He made his feature film directorial debut on "The Sugarland Express" from a screenplay he co-wrote. His other earlier film credits as director include "Always," "Hook," and the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" sequels "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. "
Spielberg's more recent films include the futuristic thriller "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, and he also wrote, directed and produced "A. I. Artificial Intelligence," which was realized from the vision of the late Stanley Kubrick. In 2000, Spielberg won the Stanley Kubrick Brittania Award for Excellence in Film, presented by BAFTA - Los Angeles.

In 1984, Spielberg formed his own production company, Amblin Entertainment. Under the Amblin banner, he has served as producer or executive producer on more than a dozen films, including such successes as "Gremlins," "The Goonies," "Back to the Future I, II, and III," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "An American Tail," "The Land Before Time," "The Flintstones," "Casper," "Twister," "The Mask of Zorro," "Men in Black" and "Men in Black II. " Amblin Entertainment also produces the hit series "ER" with Warner Bros. TV.

In October 1994, Spielberg partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to form the new studio DreamWorks SKG. Since then, the studio's successes have included three consecutive Best Picture Oscars® for "American Beauty," "Gladiator" and "A Beautiful Mind," the latter two in partnership with Universal.

Spielberg has also devoted his time and resources to many philanthropic causes. The impact of his experience making "Schindler's List" led him to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation using all his profits from the film. He also founded Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which has recorded more than 50,000 Holocaust survivor testimonies. In addition, Spielberg executive produced "The Last Days," the Shoah Foundation's third documentary, which won the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. He is also the chairman of the Starbright Foundation, which combines the efforts of pediatric health care, technology and entertainment to empower seriously ill children.