Interview: Tom Hanks on narrating The Americas
Big new natural history series comes to the BBC
From BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the creators of the critically acclaimed and multi-Emmy Award-winning Planet Earth and Blue Planet, in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio, comes the epic 10-part tentpole event series The Americas. It starts Sunday 2 March at 6:30 PM on BBC One. The tentpole series is narrated by Tom Hanks, executive produced by Mike Gunton (Life, Planet Earth II, Dynasties), with music by Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer.
The Americas showcases the wonders, secrets and fragilities of the world’s great supercontinent. For the first time, the Americas stars in its own incomparable series, using cutting-edge technology to uncover never-before-seen behaviour, and highlight the extraordinary, untold wildlife stories that will deeply connect with millions around the world. Five years in the making and filmed over 180 expeditions, this groundbreaking series reveals the spectacular landscapes of Earth’s most varied landmass – the only one to stretch between both poles.
The Americas unprecedented scale and ambition delivers remarkable world firsts; new species, new intimate courtship, dramatic deep sea hunting and some of nature’s strangest stories – even a frog that seems to defy death every day.
Each episode features a different iconic location across the Americas: The Atlantic Coast, Mexico, The Wild West, The Amazon, The Frozen North, The Gulf Coast, The Andes, The Caribbean, The West Coast and Patagonia.
Q&A with Tom Hanks
What was it that made you agree to be a part of this?
When the opportunity arose to be the voice of The Americas, I said: “I think I've lived for that opportunity.” I knew that I would be learning an awful lot. I wanted to be on the front line. I feel lucky to be a part of this extraordinary project – of capturing something that is so real that is it's irrefutable to anybody who watches it. And it's just glorious to be a part of that.
Mike Gunton said "Tom was the obvious person to do it. And I'll tell you why because, and I think it's been proved now we've done it, is that these shows are not just told. If they work really well, the audience have an experience where they don't lean back on it. They lean forward, they're involved, and the intensity of the stories, if you get them right, they're very visceral.
They're very empathetic. They should get under your skin. And the skill of being able to weave the different emotions that the animals feel and relate to without it being too anthropomorphic. But making it feel relatable is really, really hard. And I just knew Tom would be able to do it, and indeed he did. And it's critical because some of these stories are quite intense, and people kind of need their hands held sometimes. ‘It's going to be okay,’ or actually, ‘this is really weird,’ or ‘this is really beautiful,’ and be able to lead people and to set up the tone because it is dramatic. To be able to tick all those boxes is incredibly hard thing to do. And Tom did it."
In your own words, what is the Americas?
Everything that we see in The Americas is about the great forces that have shaped our planet Earth. The Americas has been about 4 billion years in the making, and it has a cast of billions. It is a cavalcade of wonder. It's an hour of discovery. You will be enthralled, enlightened, educated and - foremost - entertained. This is TV at its absolute best, because - number one - you can't make this stuff up. It's the truth. It's real.
Is there one story or one beautiful shot from the series that has really stuck with you and can you describe it?
There is something extraordinary in watching creatures of all ages playing. That's my favourite part of The Americas – seeing how often all creatures great and small play, occupy their time, keep themselves entertained. Carefree youngsters - cubs, otters, pups, chicks, owls – learning how to do whatever they do for the first time. It seems like all of creation seeks some form of contact, affection, and togetherness that is undeniably a part of their behaviour.
