It’s pretty much impossible not to love actor Tom Hanks. Here’s just one more reason to adore him: his affinity for dogs.
The Toy Story and Forrest Gump star plays the titular role in a new Apple TV+ movie called Finch. Hanks’ character spends his days in a post-apocalyptic world building a robot that will take care of his dog when he’s no longer able to.
Obviously, the actor’s actual love of dogs helps his performance feel more genuine. In a Zoom interview, Hanks described what it was like working with co-star Seamus the rescue dog:
“No one I have worked with has more deep, welcoming, emotive, loved-filled eyes than Seamus. Big, big, big brown orbs. When you’re just hanging around the set waiting for a shot, and you’re sitting on the couch in the RV and you might take a nap or you might lean your head back, and Seamus is there, he’s got his head on my thigh, and I can start rubbing his belly and scratching his ears and grabbing his snout and talking to him, the connection I had with those eyes then was just worth its weight in gold.”
As some will remember, Hanks has worked with canine co-stars before in films like 1989’s Turner & Hooch (there’s currently a series version of the story on Disney+ starring Josh Peck) and technically a digital pooch in Toy Story 2 and 3.
Hanks Gives Props To The Film’s Real Star
In developing this film, producers knew Hanks would make the perfect dog-loving “Finch.” Hanks admits that the dog is the real star of the film though. In a film promo the actor smartly says: “Who doesn’t love a good dog?”
Seamus plays “Goodyear,” the canine companion that keeps Finch sane in apocalyptic times. When Finch begins programming a robot, he teaches it Isaac Asimov’s three protective laws of robotics and then teaches it a fourth rule: protect Goodyear above all else.
This is obviously a very relatable theme from the film. If it was just me and my dog living in an apocalyptic world and I somehow could build robots, I’d do the same.
Watch the film’s trailer below:
Finch has been streaming on Apple TV since November 5th, so if you don’t already have an account there’s no better time to use your free trial.
The film currently has a 73% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. I think more dog lovers and Tom Hanks lovers should give it a watch.