While not a stranger to writing (after having penned the screenplays of both "That Thing You Do!" and "Larry Crowne"), the new Tom Hanks story the actor recently had published takes the actor to a new different realm he's never been a part of: short story writing.
The new Tom Hanks story was published in the online version of renowned magazine The New Yorker last Monday (it's a part of the October 27 printed issue) and it's called "Alan Bean Plus Four," in honor of astronaut Alan Bean, part of the Apollo 12 mission - the mission right before the one that Hanks "was" in at famous film Apollo 13.
Tom Hanks' story is about four friends who go to the moon on a homemade spaceship: the characters are the narrator, MDash, Anna, and Steve Wong. They don't want to land on the moon, but rather just inscribe a figure 8 around it - which they achieve.
Tom Hanks' story is just the latest example of an actor turning to fiction in a big magazine - The New Yorker itself has already published the works of Jesse Eisenberg, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Lena Dunham and Steve Martin, all of whom are actors who have also taken a dip into writing in their time. Another child of Hollywood, Pineapple Express and Oscar-nominated actor James Franco has also published his own fiction, although not in The New Yorker but rather in Slate magazine.
Some of the actors who join the writing bandwagon have seen more critical success than others - it has often been said that these celebs are only published in important magazines because they're sure to entice the audiences, even if they're not particularly good at the craft.
Tom Hanks' story in particular has received some mixed reviews, but it hasn't fared all that bad - or at least not for Hollywood actor standards.
